Felix Cabrera, the one-time foreman of the Petaluma,CA slaughterhouse, was sentenced Friday in San Francisco to three months of federal custody to be followed by two years of supervised probation. He was also fined $1,000. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said Cabrera should self-surrender for the 90 days jail term on Sept. 2, 2016,…
Yardman only one not paid in Rancho diseased cow scheme
Sentencing continues tomorrow in the criminal prosecution of the four men whose scheme to circumvent USDA inspection in 2013 caused diseased cattle to end up as human food. The owner of Rancho Veal, Robert “Bob” Singleton, and Rancho Feeding Corp. yardman Eugene Corda will appear for sentencing on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Northern…
How Rancho’s insider scheme cost others millions of dollars
While the owners of the Petaluma slaughter house were running a scheme to collect a few hundred dollars at a time from area ranchers by harvesting an occasional condemned cow and pocketing the money, the same facility was also being used by BN Ranch on its mission to create “the best-tasting, most wholesome humanely raised…
Rancho boss Jesse “Babe” Amaral sentenced to a year and day
The elderly Petaluma, CA, man who ran a scheme to sell cattle condemned by USDA because of diseases like cancerous eyeballs was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in federal prison to be followed by two years of supervised release including assignment to a “half-way” house for the first year. 
Federal Judge Charles…
Courts Will Continue to Be Food Safety Enforcement’s Big Stick in 2016
Criminal courts have played a prominent role in food safety during both 2014 and 2015, and that will continue in 2016. We know that much for certain just by the amount of work the courts are carrying over into the New Year. We also know know the continuation of the restitution hearing before U.S. District…
Judge Tells Former Rancho Owner to be ‘Prepared to Surrender’ in February
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco does not like it, but Jesse J. Amaral Jr. is getting two additional months of freedom before he needs to report for sentencing, now rescheduled for 2 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2016. The one-time owner of Rancho Feeding Corp., who has admitted processing diseased cattle at the Petaluma,…
Sentencings for Selling Cows With ‘Cancer Eye’ Pushed Into 2016
The sentencings of defendants in a scheme to fool the U.S. Department of Agriculture and sell cattle with diseased eyeballs has again been delayed, some into next year. After spending 14 minutes hearing a defense motion on Sept. 3, federal Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley continued the hearing to allow the attorneys to work out…
Attorney for Former Rancho Owner Wins Hearing on Protective Order
The Valentine’s Day recall last year of 8,742,700 pounds of beef — all production of the Rancho Feeding Corporation from Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 7, 2014 — immediately sparked protests from customers who used the Petaluma, CA, slaughterhouse to process their cattle. After all, they had nothing to do with the scheme to slip…
Money Lost By Others Delays Sentencing in Rancho Beef Case
Sentencing four defendants in a scheme to slaughter cattle with cancerous eyes and sell the meat for human consumption is going to take longer than expected.
The U.S. District Court for Northern California has rescheduled the sentencing of Jesse J. Amaral Jr. to Sept. 2, 2015, while the sentencing of Eugene D. Corda, Felix Sandoval…
Sentencing of Rancho Defendants Will Be Aug. 12 in San Francisco
Four defendants involved in the scheme to slaughter cattle with cancerous eyes and sell the meat for human consumption are going to be sentenced together Aug. 12 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. In separate orders, federal Judge Charles R. Breyer consolidated the sentencing dates for the four…