Slaughterhouse owner sentenced for selling meat from sick cattle

In this January 13, 2014 photo, cows wait to be butchered at Rancho Veal Slaughterhouse in Petaluma, Calif. (AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Conner Jay) In this January 13, 2014 photo, cows wait to be butchered at Rancho Veal Slaughterhouse in Petaluma, Calif. (AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Conner Jay) Photo: Conner Jay, Associated Press Photo: Conner Jay, Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Slaughterhouse owner sentenced for selling meat from sick cattle 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

A North Bay slaughterhouse owner who admitted ordering the sale of meat from ailing and uninspected cattle — leading to a nationwide recall of 8.7 million pounds of beef and veal products in 2014 — was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison.

Jesse Amaral, 78, of Petaluma, former president of Rancho Feeding Corp., pleaded guilty a year ago to conspiracy to distribute adulterated and misbranded meat. Robert Singleton, owner of Rancho Veal Corp., which purchased cattle for the Petaluma slaughterhouse, and two slaughterhouse employees have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing in March.

Amaral admitted ordering employees between 2012 and January 2014 to process cattle that had been condemned by a government veterinarian — meaning they were unfit for human consumption — and to avoid full inspection of cattle suffering from epitherlioma, or eye cancer.

Prosecutors said he told the employees to deceive inspectors by putting the heads of cows that had been healthy next to the carcasses of decapitated cows that had eye cancer. He also directed employees to use carvers to remove “condemned” stamps from cattle carcasses, prosecutors said. Amaral also admitted sending fraudulent invoices to cattle farmers telling them their cattle had died or had been condemned rather than slaughtered and sold.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered the recall and closed the slaughterhouse after learning that Rancho Feeding Corp. employees had processed and sold meat from 101 condemned cattle and another 79 that had suffered cancer, prosecutors said.

There have been no reports of illnesses among consumers, said Amaral’s lawyer, Michael Dias. He said the meat, though not properly inspected, was “not a public risk.”

Federal prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence. In imposing the one-year term, followed by a year in a halfway house, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer cited the health of Amaral, who has had several heart attacks and recently underwent cancer surgery.

Dias, who had requested probation or house arrest for Amaral, said it was a fair sentence. He said Amaral has liquidated his assets to pay restitution to his victims, an amount he said was confidential.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko