A Johnston, Rhode Island beef slaughterhouse will pay $20,000 in fines and be placed on three years of federal probation for fraudulently selling labeled beef in 2019.
U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha made the announcement this week after one of Rhode Island Beef and Veal’s owners, Michael A. Quattrucci, pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding customers.
“The Court should impose a sentence that deters similar misconduct but does not threaten the existence of a struggling company with no prior criminal history,” argued Gary Pelletier, Beef and Veal’s attorney, in an April 29 sentencing memorandum.
Rhode Island Beef and Veal was accused of claiming that beef sold was inspected under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and preparing that beef without complying with inspection requirements.
“In entering into the agreement with Rhode Island Beef and Veal, the United States Department of Agriculture recognized the value of the company as one of the only — if not the only — beef processing plants in Southern New England and sought to fashion a solution that will allow the company to survive and make a profit,” Pelletier wrote and added that the company has operated at a loss since 2019.
During a visit by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors in August 2019, USDA officials noted the presence of rodents in the butchering plant and issued a suspension.
“While the company certainly acknowledges the wrongfulness of its conduct, this is not a situation where the business’s misdeeds harmed anyone,” Pelletier wrote. “Nothing suggests that the company placed unsavory beef into commerce; rather, the company did not abide by the rules when it undertook actions to satisfy the needs of a longstanding customer in Connecticut.”
The falsely labeled shipment was found during a USDA inspection a week later. Then, a supervisor found employees applying USDA stamps without an inspector present.
“The supervisor retained 10 beef carcasses and 20 pounds of falsely marked ground beef,” Pelletier recounted. “The company’s management destroyed the beef confiscated by the supervisor.”
Despite the suspension, Rhode Island Beef and Veal continued to fulfill an emergency beef order from Soeltl Farms in Salem, Connecticut. The facility slapped USDA inspection stamps onto the beef that been approved, but not stamped by the USDA.
Quattrucci was sentenced on July 27, 2023, to one year of federal probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000.