Federal Jury in Fort Worth Convicts Brothers in $240M Cattle Scheme as City Council Weighs 90-Day Data Center Moratorium

Brothers Joshua and Jason Link Convicted in $240 Million Nationwide Cattle Ponzi Scheme

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas returned guilty verdicts on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, against brothers Joshua Link and Jason Link for their orchestration of a catastrophic $240 million investment fraud and money laundering scheme through their Fort Worth-based enterprise, Agridime LLC. Federal prosecutors demonstrated that the defendants solicited funds from more than 2,200 victims across the United States, falsely promising double-digit annual returns backed by physical beef cattle and processing operations.

Evidence presented during the trial revealed that only a small fraction of the promised livestock existed, with hundreds of millions of dollars cycled to pay off prior investors in classic Ponzi fashion and diverted toward luxury personal expenditures. The Link brothers face up to 20 years in federal prison per fraud count at their upcoming sentencing hearing.

Fort Worth City Council Considers 90-Day Moratorium on New Large-Scale Data Centers

In municipal governance, the Fort Worth City Council held its initial public hearing on a proposed 90-day moratorium on new data center facility approvals following the formal presentation of a 156-page investigative report by the Fort Worth Data Center & Infrastructure Commission. The panel outlined 19 key recommendations designed to protect local water aquifers, mitigate peak electrical substation strain, and establish rigorous architectural buffering between industrial compute campuses and residential subdivisions.

Council members underscored that while tech investments stimulate commercial tax assessments, municipal utilities must verify long-term cooling water availability and power infrastructure resiliency before approving additional hyper-scale computing installations.

Barnes & Noble Expands Cultural Footprint with West 7th Montgomery Plaza Flagship

In retail and cultural developments, Barnes & Noble finalized preparations for the grand opening of its brand-new 19,500-square-foot bookstore at Montgomery Plaza along West 7th Street, scheduled to welcome readers next week. The expansive storefront marks the company’s second major Fort Worth opening this month, featuring an independent cafe, expansive community event halls, and dedicated children’s literary spaces designed to serve booming urban neighborhoods west of downtown.