Appeals court upholds feedlot owner's theft convictions

BATTLE CREEK, Neb. -- A northeast Nebraska feedlot owner's theft conviction will stand for now. 

In a decision released Tuesday, the Nebraska Court of Appeals upheld the felony theft conviction of Travis Belina of Battle Creek. 

A jury convicted him in 2023, after he was accused of stealing cattle from a separate feedlot and slaughtering them for his own use. 

Belina was sentenced to four years' probation, but appealed his conviction. 

Belina argued the jury received improper instructions, and that the prosecutors suppressed evidence; but the State Appeals Court disagreed. 

Belina is currently serving a prison sentence of over 11 years related to a separate case involving the sexual assault of four minors that worked on his feedlot.