The man accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm equipment across several counties will be in Anderson County District Court for a preliminary hearing on January 24th. Fifty nine year-old Marvin Slyter, of Garnett, was charged inJune of this year for the string of thefts, mostly consisting of John Deere farm equipment, from various locations throughout east central Kansas. Victims in the complaints ranged from private individuals to the Kansas Department of Transportation as well as the financial services arm of John Deere. The incidents date back to november 2019. The incidents prompted widespread criticism of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department at the time because of the pace of the investigation and delays in the subsequent filing of charges. Sheriff Vern Valentine defended his department at the time, saying the volume of thefts and the fact that victims and crime scenes were located in various counties made the investigation all the more complicated.
