Singleton pleads guilty in Rancho case

After appearing in court on Friday morning, Petaluma resident Robert Singleton, 77, pleaded guilty to one criminal charge for his role in an alleged scheme to sell tainted meat, which sparked an 8.7 million pound beef recall and the ultimately closed Rancho Feeding Corp.|

After appearing in court on Friday morning, Petaluma resident Robert Singleton, 77, pleaded guilty to one criminal charge for his role in an alleged scheme to sell tainted meat, which sparked an 8.7 million pound beef recall and the ultimately closed Rancho Feeding Corp.

As part of his plea agreement Singleton, a co-owner of the slaughterhouse, will have to testify against his former partner, Jesse “Babe” Amaral, 76, as well as employees Eugene Corda, 65, and Felix Cabrera, 55, who have all pleaded not guilty to the charges they face. In exchange for his cooperation, prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer to be lenient on Singleton, although the judge is not required to comply with that request. Singleton faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine for one count of violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act. He is expected to be sentenced in November; it is unclear when the other defendants in this case will head to trial.

According to the indictment filed on Aug. 14, the four took part in a scheme to process at least 180 cows that they knew to be either condemned or diseased. In an estimated 101 cases, Corda and Cabrera allegedly were instructed to cut the official United States Department of Agriculture “condemned” stamp out of cows that were deemed unfit for human consumption, so the animals could be sold as meat. Singleton also allegedly purchased 79 cows he knew to be sick with epithelioma, or “cancer eye,” which would make them unsuitable for sale. By placing healthy cattle heads next to the carcasses of the diseased animals while the federal meat inspector on site was at lunch, the tainted beef was approved for sale.

After learning of the scheme, USDA recalled all of the beef produced at the Petaluma Boulevard North slaughterhouse in 2013. Rancho Feeding Corp closed in February after the recall was announced, but was reopened on April 7 under new ownership from Marin Sun Farms.

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