Slaughterhouse Owner Receives Prison Sentence

The Press Democrat - Jesse “Babe” Amaral Jr., the Rancho Feeding slaughterhouse owner whose sale of meat from condemned and uninspected cattle led to a nationwide food recall two years ago, was sentenced Wednesday to one year in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release.

Amaral, 78, was spared a greater sentence because of his poor health. But U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said it would send the wrong message if the former Petaluma slaughterhouse owner didn’t serve some time in prison for his crime. He called Amaral’s actions a “betrayal of trust” for the hundreds of millions of Americans who rely on the federal inspection system to ensure food safety.

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