Johnston Beef Slaughterhouse Fined For Selling Non-Inspected Meat

JOHNSTON, RI — A Johnston beef slaughterhouse was fined $20,000 and placed on three years of federal probation after fraudulently claiming its products were federally inspected, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said Tuesday.

Rhode Island Beef and Veal and one of its owners, Michael Quattrucci pleaded guilty to defrauding customers by claiming their beef was inspected under the rules of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and preparing beef without complying with inspection requirements. The company also pleaded guilty to defrauding customers by use of an official inspection mark of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture without authorization.

Quattrucci was sentenced in July 2023 to one year of federal probation and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

According to court documents, on Aug. 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service served RI Beef and Veal with a notice of suspension and withdrew its inspector. Eight days after the suspension was imposed, and the inspector was withdrawn, a USDA supervisor visited the plant and found employees packing various cuts of meat and fraudulently applying USDA marks of inspections to the meat, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said packaged meat with USDA stickers was also found stored in bins. No inspector was present, as is required by law for these marks to be applied.

A day later, a USDA investigator visited the slaughterhouse and took photos of the illegally marked packages of beef, prosecutors said. The inspector said he counted 224 pounds of unmarked ground beef and a 594-pound half carcass of beef that had been freshly cut into primal parts for delivery to a customer in Connecticut who supplies meat products to restaurants.

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