Regulatory
cases can turn criminal and the resolution often takes years. A recent case
began on the regulatory side in 2012 and became a criminal case which has taken six years to resolve. The case has also cost the company millions of dollars
in product seizures, recall requirements, legal fees and fines. It shows the potential risk of non-compliance.
On
August 1, 2018, a meat processor Golden Key Food, Inc. dba AA Meat Products Corp.
was investigated in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for
selling meat that was produced without federal inspection. The government
alleged that AA Meat products had a plant in Maywood that was operating under a
USDA grant of inspection where meat and poultry food products were properly
federally inspected, but that they had a second facility in Commerce did not
have USDA inspection grant. USDA alleged that AA Meat produced and sold meat (such as trip, duck feet,
and other less expensive parts) from its Commerce plant that had not been inspected but was stamped as
if it had been inspected.
In
2012, the USDA investigators came in and seized approximately 568,000 pounds of
meat and poultry products. The USDA then issued a Class I recall led to the
recovery of another nearly one-half million pounds of meat – all of which had
to be destroyed.
A
Class I recall, according to court documents, is based on a “health hazard
situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product
will cause serious, adverse health consequences, or death.” AA Meat voluntarily
participated in the massive Class I recall to protect public safety. It does
not appear that there were any illnesses or injuries to consumers.
The
case was also pursued criminally. The resolution was probably the best that
could be reached since it guaranteed misdemeanor pleas (with a good possibility
for no jail time) for the owner of the company and his wife who was also a
plant manager. AA Meat pleaded guilty to a felony offense of offering to sell
misbranded meat, specifically beef tripe, with the intent to defraud. The owner
Bai Zhi Yan pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of offering to sell
misbranded meat (pork uteri) and poultry products (duck feet); and Yan’s wife,
Lianjie Kitty Jiang, pleaded guilty to the same counts as her husband.
In
the plea agreement, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend that the
company AA Meat be sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $1
million fine. AA Meat has agreed to be subject to a food safety compliance
plan. As for Mr. Yan and Mrs. Jiang, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of
two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, as well as a $20,000
fine for Mrs. Jiang and a $5,000 fine for Mr. Yan.
The
three defendants pleaded guilty before United States District Judge R. Gary
Klausner, who ordered the defendants to appear for sentencing on September 17,
2018 and he will consider the prosecutor’s recommendation but the sentence is
ultimately his decision.
Posted by Tracy Green, Esq.
