A Sept. 17 sentencing date is set for a Los Angeles County meat processor and two of its executives who pleaded guilty to selling “misbranded” beef, pork and poultry products that falsely indicated that the meats had been inspected by federal authorities.
As a result of an investigation, agents of the U.S. Department of Agriculture seized about 568,000 pounds of meat and poultry products from AA Meat Products, and a recall led to the recovery of another nearly 500,000 pounds of meat — all of which had to be destroyed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
AA Meat operated a processing facility in Maywood, which was operating under a USDA grant of inspection, where the meat and poultry food products were properly federally inspected, as well as a second facility in Commerce, which was not, according to federal prosecutors.
The case stems from 2012 when AA Meat misbranded its meat and poultry food products and intended to defraud its customers by falsely claiming that meat processed at its Commerce facility had been federally inspected.
The three defendants who pleaded guilty Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court are:
— Golden Key Food Inc., operating under the business name of AA Meat Products Corp., which pleaded guilty to a felony offense of offering to sell misbranded meat, specifically beef tripe, with the intent to defraud;
— Bai Zhi “Pat” Yan, 47, of Temple City, the owner of AA Meat, who 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, 44, also of Temple City, plant manager at AA Meat’s Maywood facility, who pleaded guilty to the same counts as her husband.
The defendants admitted in court documents that the Commerce facility was not operating under a USDA grant of inspection, and they were preparing and selling millions of pounds of misbranded and uninspected meat and poultry food products.
Prosecutors have agreed to recommend that AA Meat be sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $1 million fine. The company, in turn, has agreed to be subject to a food safety compliance plan, prosecutors said.
As for Yan and 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 Jiang and a $5,000 fine for Yan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.