Jury awards nearly $850K in Y.O. Ranch assault and fraud case

After a two-week trial, a Kerr County jury returned a verdict exceeding $849,720 in favor of plaintiff Eric White against multiple defendants, including David Frankens, Y.O. Ranch Headquarters LLC and former ranch owners Byron and Sandra Sadler.

The total judgement, including pre-judgement interest and costs, is expected to exceed $1 million.

The case was heard before Judge Patrick Maguire in the 198th District Court and centered on a September 2021 assault of White, the former ranch manager at the historic Y.O. Ranch Headquarters and subsequent attempts by the Y.O. to hide assets after the lawsuit was filed, according to White’s attorneys.

The jury found the ranch and its former owners accountable for fraudulent transfers of assets.

While the jury reached their verdict based on the evidence presented at trial, there were broader circumstances surrounding the case that could not be presented in court.

Court records show that White’s attorney, Amos Barton of the Carlson Law Firm, sought to introduce evidence that Frankens had previously facilitated large land acquisitions in Texas, including a controversial 140,000-acre purchase near Laughlin Air Force Base by Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin.

Forbes magazine and other media outlets have reported on these transactions.

Frankens appears in news articles over the years in relation to land development, the most prominent being an Aug. 9, 2021, Forbes article in which it’s reported a company owned by a Chinese billionaire “spent an estimated $110 million buying up land in Texas’ Val Verde County.”

“According to several local real estate brokers and individuals with knowledge of the acquisitions, Sun’s company GH America paid far above market value for its 140,000 acres of Val Verde County land, shelling out an estimated $110 million,” the article states.

Forbes reports Frankens was “the intermediary” in the deal.

While Maguire limited trial evidence to the specific events at the Y.O. Ranch, these parallel activities provide context about foreign adversaries buying up Texas land, Barton’s law office stated.

“That was a tough call,” Barton said of the decision. “You want the jury to hear the whole truth, but don’t want to inject something unduly prejudicial.

“This verdict demonstrates that our community values accountability and won’t tolerate violence or deception,” he said. “What happened at the Y.O. Ranch might sound like something from an episode of ‘Yellowstone,’ but the consequences were very real for Eric White. Thanks to the judge’s guidance and a thoughtful jury, justice won over the defendants’ attempt to avoid responsibility.”

The case, White v. Frankens, et al. Cause No. 21707B, involved complex testimony about traumatic brain injury and sophisticated financial transactions designed to hide assets, according to a press release from Barton’s office.

The jury deliberated for several hours before reaching their verdict late Friday.

Judgment is expected to be formally entered by the court in the coming weeks.

This article was originally published in the Feb. 22, 2025 edition of The Kerrville Daily Times.