January 06, 2010
MANTECA BUSINESS OWNER ADMITS AIDING AND ABETTING THE SALE OF UNINSPECTED BEEF
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that RICHARD J. RIELLA, 48, of Manteca, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting the sale of uninspected beef.
This case is the product of an investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
According to Special Assistant United States Attorney Jean M. Hobler, who is prosecuting the case, RIELLA is an owner of Riella Farms Inc. in Manteca. RIELLA and Riella Farms, Inc. are licensed to provide custom slaughter services, in which a customer either purchases a live animal from Riella Farms or brings his or her own live animal into Riella Farms for slaughter. Riella Farms can then slaughter the animal, mark the resulting meat “not for sale,” and provide the meat to that customer for his or her own use, and the use of other specifically defined persons. None of the meat so obtained may be sold.
RIELLA admitted that he provided several customers with facilities on Riella Farms property in which they operated an informal market, reselling the meat that Riella Farms had produced through its custom slaughter service. In 2004, FSIS investigators working undercover made anonymous purchases of beef products from Riella Farms customers on Riella Farms property. All of the beef products purchased showed signs of being unfit for human consumption according to USDA standards. Some of the products were simply inappropriate for sale or inedible under any circumstances (e.g., beef intestines with their original contents and beef lungs). Other products may have been fit for sale if inspected and passed at a properly licensed facility, but would not have met standards for passing inspection due to foreign matter and greenish discoloration. RIELLA admitted to investigators that he permitted the sales on Riella Farms property and that he knew Riella Farms’ sales would increase as a result of the illegal activity.
RIELLA is scheduled to be sentenced by Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd on March 30, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. The maximum statutory penalty for sale of uninspected meat products is up to one year in prison, a fine, or both. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.
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