Robert Singleton, co-owner of Rancho Feeding Corporation, has pled guilty to charges of selling cows with eye cancer and is going to cooperate with the prosecution in the case against three other defendants. Rancho Feeding Corporation was shut down in February 2014 after a huge beef recall.
Singleton admitted buying cows that were exhibiting disease, which makes them unfit for human consumption. Employees at the facility were allegedly told to cut off the heads of the sick cows and replace them with healthy cows to pass inspection. Employees are also accused of cutting federal inspector’s “condemned” stamps on the carcasses so they could process the beef for shipping. Almost 9 million pounds of beef was recalled last winter, causing financial harm to many businesses.
According to the indictment, Rancho Feeding Corporation processed and sold meat from 101 condemned animals and 73 cows that had eye cancer. The charges against the other three men in this case are ongoing. All three have pleaded not guilty. They are charged with distributing adulterated, misbranded, and uninspected meat, mail fraud, and conspiracy.
