The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Bodee Baldwin of Amarillo, Texas, has signed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, Va.

In July 1999, Baldwin was indicted on five counts of false statements to a federal agency and one count of wire fraud. According to evidence presented in the case, Baldwin provided falsified Coggins test reports when he sold four horses. The test reports had been altered to match horses he brought into Virginia to sell.

A Coggins test is used to detect equine infectious anemia, a highly contagious and potentially fatal viral disease of members of the horse family. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease.

“USDA will not tolerate any falsifying of these documents,” said Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator for veterinary services with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a part of USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs mission area. “These tests prevent the spread of equine infectious anemia. They are not to be ignored or tampered with