SAN FRANCISCO – The owner of a now-closed Petaluma slaughterhouse Rancho Feeding Corp. plead guilty Wednesday of selling sick cattle that exhibited symptoms of cancer eye for human consumption, officials
Jesse “Babe” Amaral, Jr., 77, plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute adulterated, misbranded, and uninspected meat, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of Inspector General, Investigations announced.
In pleading guilty, Amaral, 77, admitted to the following facts:
- From 2012 through January 10, 2014, he directed Rancho employees to process for human consumption cattle that had been condemned by the USDA veterinarian.
- He circumvented inspection procedures for certain cattle exhibiting symptoms of cancer eye
- He allowed the processing of these cancer eye cattle for human consumption without full inspection.
- Amaral further admitted knowingly causing Rancho to submit fraudulent cattle invoices to farmers between at least 2012 and January 2014.
Amaral was indicted on August 14, 2014, along with Rancho employees Eugene Corda, 66, and Felix Cabrera, 56.
All were charged with distribution of adulterated, misbranded, and un-inspected meat; conspiracy to commit the same, and mail fraud conspiracy in furtherance of the same scheme,
Amaral was also charged with mail fraud and mail fraud conspiracy in a separate scheme to defraud farmers by means of false invoicing.
Arising out of the same scheme, Robert Singleton, 78, owner of Petaluma-based Rancho Veal Corp.,was charged on August 18, 2014, with one count of distributing adulterated, misbranded, and uninspected meat in violation of the FMIA.
Singleton pleaded guilty to the Information on August 22.
In so doing, he admitted participating in a scheme by which Rancho employees were instructed to carve “USDA Condemned” stamps out of cattle carcasses, to conceal from USDA inspection cows showing signs of cancer eye by switching the diseased heads with healthy heads, and to process the adulterated and un-inspected carcasses for human consumption, according to authorities.
He also admitted participating in the scheme to fraudulently invoice farmers.
Cabrera, Rancho’s “kill floor” supervisor, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute adulterated, misbranded, and uninspected meat on November 26, authorities said.
Corda, Rancho’s yardman, pleaded guilty to the same offense on October 10, officials said.
Amaral’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 1.
A status hearing is scheduled for Singleton, Cabrera, and Corda on August 12.