Defendants in Rancho Feeding Corp. scandal sentenced

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced two men who were part of a scheme at a Petaluma slaughterhouse to process diseased and uninspected cattle, leading to the nationwide recall of 8.7 million pounds of meat.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Robert Singleton, 79, a partner in the business at Rancho Feeding Corp., to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.

Longtime slaughterhouse yardman Eugene Corda, 65, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and three years of probation.

The two received leniency as part of a deal with federal prosecutors to provide information about slaughterhouse co-owner Jesse “Babe” Amaral Jr., 78, who was sentenced last month to a year in prison.

Amaral is believed to have orchestrated the plot in 2013 and 2014 to process cattle with eye cancer, in some cases ordering cow heads to be cut off and switched with healthy heads so U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors wouldn’t notice problems. In other instances, he is said to have instructed employees to carve out “condemned” stamps from their carcasses.

The scandal, which led to millions of dollars in losses for distributors and ranchers, shook public confidence in food safety and led to calls for changes in the inspection process.

“The nature and circumstances of Singleton’s offenses are disturbing and serious,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in sentencing briefs.

Singleton, who is in poor health, was ordered to turn himself in May 31. On the same day, Breyer will decide if Singleton must pay restitution to the distributors.

He already has paid or agreed to pay more than $2 million to four companies as part of a civil settlement, he said in legal papers.

“A lot of what happened was that I wasn’t overseeing the operation on a daily basis,” Singleton said in a letter to the judge. “I am truly sorry for any problems that I created.”

Amaral, who also is said to be repaying distributors and is ailing, is to report to prison March 25.

Sentencing for a fourth man, slaughterhouse foreman Felix Cabrera, 56, is Wednesday. Cabrera, who worked directly for Amaral, also cooperated with prosecutors.

It was unclear whether he would be sent to prison.

Court documents submitted by Singleton’s lawyer describe his long run in the Sonoma County meat business. The Petaluma native was buying and selling veal calves out of high school starting in the 1950s and opened his own slaughterhouse in 1966.

Singleton met Amaral at a cattle auction and the two formed a partnership with separate corporations. Singleton was president of Rancho Veal, which focused on buying and selling cattle, while Amaral was president of Rancho Feeding, which ran slaughterhouse operations, according to Singleton’s court papers.

Another Singleton company owned the slaughterhouse property itself, the papers said.

In early 2013, Singleton became aware of the scheme to bypass the federal inspection process but failed to take action to stop it, his court papers said.

Singleton, who issued employee paychecks, agreed to pay Cabrera $50 for each cow he “slipped” past inspectors. He later mailed invoices to ranchers saying the cattle had died or had been condemned while knowing they were processed for meat, prosecutors said.

At the time, he said he trusted Amaral, his partner of 45 years, to distinguish between safe and dangerous meat. And he thought Cabrera, who was studying to be a USDA inspector after 30 years in the business, had a better idea of what was a passable cow, his papers said.

“This is not offered to in any way excuse Bob’s conduct,” his papers said. “He now fully appreciates that it is not up to him, or any other civilian, to determine what rules should be followed. Rather, it is offered to illustrate that Bob at the time never believed that dangerous meat would ever be passed through to consumers.”

Corda appears to have played a smaller role and did not profit from the scheme.

He and Singleton faced years in prison but had their sentences cut because of their cooperation.

Singleton said he suffered devastating personal and financial losses are a result of the scheme.

In addition to being forced to liquidate his assets, including the slaughterhouse, Singleton agreed never to work in the field again and cut himself off from his friends and business partner, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.