If they’re not, Alton Lee, 50, and Robert Hals, 43, should be glad they decided to become criminals last year, not in the days of the Old West. Back then, cattle and horse thieves were hanged — and that might have been the fate of these corn rustlers, too.

With everything else that Delta farmers had to contend with in 2009, several, says District Attorney Ricky Smith, also had to deal with bandits draining their crop bins at night.

Lee, of Rolling Fork, and Hals, of Anguilla, pleaded guilty. Instead of the noose, Lee, who had a previous conviction and faced additional felony charges, got 10 years, but will be out in a few. Hals, who wasn’t the brains of the operation, was sentenced to the 128 days he’d already been in jail. Partial restitution was ordered, but isn’t likely to be paid.

Grower and theft victim George Mahalitc said once bins are filled farmers have no reason to climb to the top and check the level. But, he said, when his son went to get a load, there were indications a bin had already been tapped. That led to some detective work.

An elevator operator said he had paid Lee $29,013.50 for seven loads and, it was learned, a false name was used on the paperwork. Pity Hals. Word is he got a mere $400 per trip.

But neither corn rustler got a trip to the gallows, which they might have in a different era.

Farmers already don’t get the respect they deserve for taking on fuel, seed and fertilizer costs, for facing down rain, wind, floods, drought, insects, weeds and plant disease, for wading through tax forms and government regulations. Some, after harvest, have to worry about rustlers, too.