Morrisons Cove Herald - Putting cows on the front page since 1885.

After a five-month investigation, two men are being charged with several felonies involving the buying and selling of stolen livestock.

Paul A. Tremmel, 64, and Rosemberg Perez Lopez, 25, both of North Woodbury Township, were arraigned on May 12 before Magisterial District Judge Andrew L. Blattenberger.

Both men were charged with 10 felony counts each of theft by unlawful taking, 10 felony counts each of receiving stolen property and 10 felony counts each of theft by deception stemming from an extensive investigation.

The on-going investigation includes North Woodbury Township Police, Martinsburg Borough Police, Williamsburg Borough Police, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

A complaint was filed by Phil Kulp regarding thefts from the Kulp Family Dairy LLC., located in Martinsburg, suspected to have been going on since 2014.

Kulp has suspected thefts of his cattle due to his extensive record keeping not matching the numbers of cattle he actually owned.

Kulp was also contacted by David Bierly of Centre Hall, Pa., owner/operator of a large cattle operation for buying and selling cattle.

Bierly claimed that he had purchased five of Kulp's cattle at the Blair Bedford Buying Station on or about Nov. 25, 2019. Bierly stated that the cattle were sold by Paul Tremmel and that the cattle had no identification tags but had three holes in the ears where tags would have been.

One witness interviewed claimed hauling jobs for Tremmel in 2018-19 had increased and that the cattle didn't have ID tags in the ears and that they were noticeably cut out of the ears.

The same witness also claimed that in November 2019 Tremmel had no cattle on the Tremmel Farm property. A Kulp Family Dairy LLC. truck was seen by the witness pulling a cattle trailer traveling toward the Tremmel Farm. The truck was operated by a Hispanic male. And later that night, the witness claimed that Tremmel contacted him about hauling nine cattle to the Blair Bedford Buying Station the next day.

Another witness claimed to have seen an Hispanic male driving a Kulp Family Dairy LLC. truck headed in the direction of Tremmel's farm and thought it to be suspicious on a Sunday morning.

Bank records showed checks to Tremmel from the Blair Bedford Buying Station in 2018 and 2019 totaling more than $52,583.

Records from the Blair Bedford Buying Station, owned by Sherri Detwiler, were seized in a warranted search and included checks issued to Tremmel, tag numbers and bills of sale tracking each Kulp Family Dairy LLC., cow sold by Tremmel at the buying station.

Both men were arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Andrew Blattenberger. Tremmel was released on $100,000 unsecured bail. Lopez was placed in Blair County Prison on $100,000 straight bail.

Both men are scheduled to appear before the Honorable Daniel J. Milliron on June 26 at the Blair County Courthouse.

Further investigation and assistance will be pursued in the clarification of Lopez on the identification used throughout this investigation with the INS.

Further investigation could result in future additional charges involving these men and additional conspirators.

Editor's Note: A photo of Paul A. Tremmel was not available.