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Case #13175 Rating: 2.2 out of 5
Slaughterhouse employees charged with cruelty
Chino, CA (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007
County: San Bernardino
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Daniel Ugarte Navarro
» Jose Luis Sanchez
Case Updates: 11 update(s) available
San Bernardino County prosecutors on Feb 15, 2008 filed felony charges against a former Chino slaughterhouse manager who allegedly used cruel methods to force at-risk cattle into the slaughter box. A videotape taken at the facility has led to schools nationwide pulling beef from cafeterias.
In what prosecutors called unprecedented charges, 49-year-old Daniel Ugarte Navarro of Pomona faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal. Navarro, who was a head pen manager at Hallmark Meat Packing, was fired last month after the release of the video by the Humane Society of the United States.
"It makes your stomach turn to see what they did to the cows in this situation," Dist. Atty. Michael A. Ramos said at a news conference today. "We want to send the message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated."
Authorities today also filed three misdemeanor counts against 32-year-old Luis Sanchez of Chino, who worked directly under Navarro and was also fired last month. Sanchez faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week suspended inspections at Hallmark, which in effect closed the plant. The USDA inspector general is investigating the case, but this week several members of Congress also called for an independent federal investigation of the safety of food the USDA supplies to schools.
Hallmark was the second-largest supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program.
The Humane Society took the video to the San Bernardino district attorney's office Dec. 19, more than a month before it became public. Ramos said investigations were ongoing and that his office was also cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office.
Authorities are also considering action against the management of Hallmark for alleged unfair business practices, Ramos said.
Navarro and Sanchez were expected to appear for arraignment this afternoon at a Chino courthouse.
"For so many district attorneys, animal cruelty issues are very new," Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, said today. "It's a process. . . . Today we heard that he treats it as a serious issue."
The plant may not reopen until a plan for corrective action is submitted and approved by federal authorities.
School districts nationwide have pulled suspect beef from their cafeteria menus, although the USDA has said no evidence was found that so-called downer cattle had entered the food supply. Cattle that cannot walk are banned from being used as human food because they are at higher risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease.
Case UpdatesThe new owners of a Chino meatpacking plant that was at the center of the largest beef recall in U.S. history say they have taken steps to ensure there is no repeat of the animal abuse and rule violations that forced their predecessors to shut down.
Officials with American Beef Packers Inc. flew in a Chicago-based consultant this week to train employees on humane animal-handling techniques and they have contracted with a New York-based video-monitoring service to audit operations around the clock.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, animal-rights groups and the news media are going to be watching closely, company officials said.
"We've got to mitigate to where we don't have a problem," said Marvin Roberts, a company co-owner from Phoenix, Ariz.
Temple Grandin, a leading livestock industry consultant based in Colorado, said Thursday the company appears to be doing the right things.
"It signals to me they're serious," she said by phone. "Those are both good signs they're doing this right."
Company officials said they hope to begin operations by the end of the month. An official with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that the agency is still evaluating the company's operating plans and has not granted the company "official establishment" status.
American Beef Packers took over the slaughterhouse this summer from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.
Westland/Hallmark was forced to shut down earlier this year after the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover video showing employees dragging cows, repeatedly shocking them and ramming them with forklifts to get them on their feet for slaughter.
Federal rules prohibit "downer" cows -- cows too hurt or sick to stand for slaughter -- in the food system. Downer cows are more likely to have mad cow disease or other illnesses that can be passed on to people.
The video triggered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, a third of which had gone to the National School Lunch Program.
It also prompted legislators to strengthen federal and state laws against the slaughter of downer cows and intensified scrutiny of slaughterhouses.
The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service filed a claim against Westland/Hallmark for $67 million, the costs associated with the recall. As of Thursday, the money had not been paid.
Two plant workers were convicted on animal cruelty charges.
Training
The new company tapped animal-handling expert Erika Voogd to give a three-day training seminar this week to about 15 employees. Many employees have experience working with livestock, though the company said it is not hiring any cattle handlers or managers from Westland/Hallmark.
Voogd spent 20 years performing quality assurance for Oscar Meyer and OSI Industries, a supplier of McDonald's hamburgers. She has traveled around the globe educating inspectors and plant managers in animal welfare.
Voogd and company officials told the group that downer cows are "not allowed into the meat stream" and must be euthanized.
Incapacitating a cow before slaughter should not require more than one shot of a stun gun to the cow's forehead, Voogd said. She provided the group with diagrams showing the correct angle of the gun to ensure that the bolt penetrates the brain.
The use of electric prods to move cattle from the pen to the chute to the "stun box" should be a last resort, Voogd said.
Sometimes just walking toward a cow will get it to move. If that fails, the next best option is a slight hand movement, followed by a slight tap with a paddle, she said.
Plant manager Steve Sayer said the company's policy will be to use electrical prods as a last resort and only along the narrow chute that leads to the "stun box."
Voogd stressed the importance of maintaining a calm environment for the cows.
Slippery floors, moving the cow from a lighted area to a dark one and exposure to sharp-contrasting colors all can cause a cow to feel stressed or be distracted, she said.
"People will say they're too stubborn. No, they're not. They're being smart," she said.
Jaime Gonzalez, who will be working in the pen area, said he knows from experience that "if you push them, stress them out, they aren't going to do what you want them to do."
Video Monitoring
American Beef Packers has also contracted with Arrowsight, a company that specializes in remote "video auditing" software, to monitor whether employees comply with animal handling guidelines written by Temple Grandin and adopted in 2007 by the American Meat Institute.
Sixteen cameras have been placed throughout the pen and slaughter areas of the plant.
About 12 times a day, Arrowsight staff will pull up live video feeds and run random audits. They will watch for downer cows, the use of electric prods and instances where a cow is stunned more than once.
Every 30 minutes, Arrowsight staff will also scan still images captured in the previous 30 minutes from various locations, also watching for problems.
An audio feed allows Arrowsight staff to listen for cows that are mooing or signaling distress.
In certain circumstances, plant managers will be notified immediately if a violation is spotted. There will also be weekly reports.
In the face of growing regulations, "we're seeing a natural surge in interest from companies to preemptively and proactively address high risk areas," said Adam Aronson, chief executive officer of Arrowsight, which also does video auditing for hospitals and fast-food outlets.
In the case of American Beef Packers, "they saw a colleague go down in flames," he said.
Re-opening Soon
Roberts has never operated a meatpacking plant, though he has been in the cattle business for more than 30 years, mainly involved in livestock brokering, cattle feeding and ranching.
Unlike Westland/Hallmark, which sent 500 cattle to slaughter a day, American Beef Packers will start small, processing about 100 dairy cattle a day, primarily for the boneless meat market, co-owner Pat Carrigan said.
Chino officials have said they welcome the plant's re-opening. Since Westland/Hallmark closed, local dairy cows ready for slaughter have been sent to plants in Brawley, Fresno and Arizona.
American Beef Packers received 450 job applications over a three-day period recently. Officials said they expect to start with about 100 employees and hire an additional 150 employees when they are in full production in six months. | Source: Press-Enterprise - Oct 9, 2008
Update posted on Oct 11, 2008 - 2:53AM |
A former Southern California slaughterhouse worker was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in jail and probation after being caught on undercover video abusing sick and injured cows, leading to the largest beef recall in U.S. history, the Associated Press reports:
Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, was sentenced after pleading no contest in June to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals. (Navarro, left, is pictured above standing outside Chino Superior Court after his sentencing. With him is defense attorney Ruben Salazar.)
Navarro can serve his jail time on weekends in a work-release program, must attend counseling and must serve three years of felony probation, said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County district attorney. He could also serve the time through electronic monitoring at the discretion of the jail, she said.
Another worker, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, pleaded guilty in March to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal and was sentenced to six months in jail.
The undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the United States led to a federal investigation and the recall of 143 million pounds of beef in February. The video shows workers at Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. dragging sick cows with metal chains and forklifts, shocking them with electric prods and shooting streams of water in their noses and faces.
Salazar told the Associated Press that his client was just following orders and that prosecutors overcharged Navarro to appease an angry public and animal-rights activists. | Source: LA Times - Sept 24, 2008
Update posted on Sep 25, 2008 - 11:30PM |
A sentencing hearing was postponed Monday for a slaughterhouse supervisor convicted of animal abuse for his role in the videotaped cruelty towards sick and injured cows in the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.
The sentencing for Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, was postponed because he will first speak with federal investigators about potential criminal conduct committed by his supervisors and the owners of Westland/Hallmark, said Navarro's attorney, Ruben Salazar.
The videotaped actions at the slaughterhouse showed so-called "downer" cows being forcibly moved with forklifts, among other abuses.
The footage led to the recall of 143 million pounds of the company's beef, the largest in U.S. history.
Navarro, a former pen manager at the company, said after Monday's hearing that he hopes an interview with federal authorities will help to clear his name.
Navarro signed an agreement Aug. 14 with federal investigators promising immunity from federal charges based on his statements, Salazar said.
"We're hoping that the true culprits are federally prosecuted," Salazar said.
Navarro said throughout his 23 years working for Westland/Hallmark, the company used forklifts and other improper techniques to forcibly move cows.
Narvarro said if he had refused to use such techniques, he would have been fired.
"One has to do what one is told to do," said Navarro, who spoke in Spanish Monday with his attorney translating his comments into English.
The former pen manager said the company would purchase cattle it knew were too sick to be legally slaughtered, but employees were instructed to move the cattle using illegal tools such as the forklift.
State and federal regulations state that cows too sick or injured to stand on their own in slaughterhouse chutes should not be slaughtered.
Navarro's sentencing hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 24 in Chino Superior Court.
He agreed to plead guilty in June to two felony charges of animal abuse, and two misdemeanor charges of moving "downer" animals.
He faces a jail sentence of seven months to a year, but his time will likely be served through work release or monitored house arrest, Salazar said. | Source: The Sun - Aug 26, 2008
Update posted on Aug 27, 2008 - 12:02AM |
A former slaughterhouse supervisor whose videotaped abuse of sick and injured cows helped spur the largest beef recall in U.S. history pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges Friday.
Daniel Ugarte Navarro, a former pen manager at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., faces up to a year in county jail as a result of his plea in Chino Superior Court.
Navarro, 48, will likely be allowed to serve the sentence either at home on electronic monitoring or on a weekend jail work-release program.
Outside the courtroom, Navarro said he was relieved to put the case behind him, though he insisted he was not to blame for either the abuse or national scandal that followed. He said he did his job at the slaughterhouse using the tools and instructions his supervisors gave him.
"I think they are the ones who should be legally responsible," he said in Spanish. "They are the company. I was only a worker there. There were a lot of people higher than me."
The case against Navarro stemmed from a videotape made by an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States. The investigator secretly worked inside the Chino factory for six weeks late last year, recording employees using cruel and inhumane tactics to move sick or injured cows.
Workers are seen on the tape dragging spent dairy cows with forklifts, blasting them with a high-pressure water hose and poking the animals' eyes, among other abuses.
It appeared in some cases that workers forced cows too feeble to stand into the slaughter chutes, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Westland/Hallmark was one of the largest suppliers of beef to the National School Lunch Program. The Humane Society released the tape earlier this year, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to close the factory. Some 143million pounds of the company's beef was later recalled.
Navarro was one of two employees charged by San Bernardino County prosecutors in connection with the tape.
He could have faced up to eight years in state prison if convicted at trial of the five felony and three misdemeanor counts against him.
He pleaded no contest Friday morning to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts relating to the illegal moving of crippled cows.
Per the plea, he will receive a sentence of 210 to 365 days in jail when he returns to court Aug. 25.
Judge Gerard Brown will decide the exact length of the punishment after considering a recommendation from the county's Probation Department, as well as arguments from attorneys on both sides of the case.
Brown, however, indicated Friday he would not require Navarro to serve straight jail time, but would instead allow him to do the time either on electronic monitoring or work release.
Navarro will also spend three years on probation, undergo psychological counseling, and must get rid of the chickens and rabbits he owns.
Navarro's attorney, Ruben Salazar, said Navarro is willing to cooperate with the USDA in any investigation into the roles of plant executives in the abuse. | Source: Pasadena Star News - June 20, 2008
Update posted on Jun 22, 2008 - 11:02PM |
The court fight still is ongoing for one of two Hallmark/Westland employees charged with abuse in the aftermath of the undercover videotape made by a representative of the Humane Society of the U.S. and released in February.
Lawyers for Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, had argued that the charges against him individually should be dismissed and refiled against management of Chino, Calif.-based Hallmark/Westland, instead, according to The Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif. Late last week the judge disagreed, and Ugarte is due back in court on June 20, although his lawyers may appeal the judge's decision in the meantime.
Lawyers for the District Attorney's office in San Bernardino County, Calif., have offered Ugarte a plea deal that may call for him to serve up to a year in jail for two felony and two misdemeanor counts. That offer is open until the June 20th court date. | Source: Cattle Network - April 21, 2008
Update posted on Apr 21, 2008 - 10:27AM |
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge refused to dismiss charges Thursday morning against a former Chino slaughterhouse pen worker accused of mistreating cattle.
Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, pleaded not guilty March 20 to eight misdemeanor and felony charges related to the videotaped mistreatment of cattle last year at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.
His attorney, Ruben Salazar, challenged the charges, saying they violate his client's constitutional right of due process and should be filed against Westland/Hallmark management, not his client.
Salazar argued in a Chino courtroom on Thursday that the animal-cruelty and related charges are meant to be applied to businesses that have control over the cattle, not individuals.
"This is essentially a business crime," Salazar said.
Judge Gerard Brown disagreed.
He compared the situation to parents leaving their children with a baby sitter, saying that while Westland/Hallmark was the owner, an employee overseeing the cattle could be considered responsible for their care.
"If someone pokes a cow in the eye, it isn't an amorphous entity that pokes a cow in the eye," Brown said. "It's a human being that pokes a cow in the eye."
After the hearing, Salazar criticized the ruling and said he is considering filing a writ of mandate with the Court of Appeal.
"We believe the judge abused his discretion and acted beyond the statute," Salazar said.
Deputy District Attorney Debbi Ploghaus said the ruling was fair.
"He was right on the law," she said of the judge.
Also at the hearing, Ploghaus revealed that her office had made a plea offer Wednesday to Ugarte that called for him to serve as long as a year in jail for two felony and two misdemeanor counts. Ploghaus said Salazar initially gave her the impression that he had rejected the deal, but in court, he said he had not had a chance to discuss it with his client.
Under Brown's prodding, Ploghaus agreed to keep the offer open until June 20, when Ugarte is due back in court.
"It's off the table on the 20th," she said.
A preliminary hearing was set for July 1. Ploghaus promised that the video and the person who taped it would be presented at that hearing.
"I think that tape clearly speaks for itself," she said.
The footage shows workers at the plant using electric prods, chains and a forklift to beat, shock and shove the cows to force them to stand for slaughter. Federal standards require that cows be able to stand and to pass an initial inspection to be accepted for slaughter.
The videotape, made by a Humane Society of the United States investigator working undercover, led to the largest meat recall in U.S. history.
Salazar said he plans to file a motion seeking to have the identity of the video's maker revealed sooner so he can prepare a proper defense.
Salazar said he could not comment on the plea offer until he had discussed it with his client. But he said he has spoken to federal investigators about Ugarte acting in a whistle-blower capacity and was open to having the same conversation with local prosecutors. He said others higher in the company that should be held responsible, not his client.
"He's the symbolic scapegoat," Salazar said. "He's essentially the political patsy in this scenario."
The other man charged in the case, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, 34, an illegal immigrant, accepted a plea agreement March 21 that sent him to jail for six months. He will be deported after serving his time. | Source: Press Enterprise - April 17, 2008
Update posted on Apr 18, 2008 - 10:46PM |
A former Chino slaughterhouse worker whose abuse of cows led in part to the largest beef recall in the country's history pleaded guilty today to criminal charges.
Rafael Sanchez Herrera will spend 180 days in county jail after admitting to three misdemeanors for using a forklift to illegally move cows that were too sick or injured to stand. His plea also resolved two other unrelated cases against him.
Herrera's attorney, Mario Martinez, said the worker took the deal because the public outrage over the beef recall would have made the case risky to take to trial.
"The public sympathy wasn't going to be on his side," Martinez said. "This was the best possible outcome."
Herrera is one of two men caught on videotape abusing sick or injured cows in the pens of the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.. in Chino.
A worker from the Humane Society of the United States made the video while working undercover last fall inside the meat processing plant.
The recording shows Herrera and other workers dragging cows with forklifts, shooting high-pressure hoses into their noses and mouths and jabbing one animal in the eye with a stick. It appeared the workers used the tactics to force cows too feeble to stand into the kill chutes. The slaughter of cows unable to stand violates state and federal regulations.
Westland/Hallmark was the second largest supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program. It also provided meat to hundreds of other restaurants, institutions and food manufacturers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down the plant after the video surfaced. The company then recalled 143 million pounds of beef.
Herrera has said he was only following the orders of his supervisors in handling the cows and did not realize he was committing any crimes.
He said he questioned supervisors about the methods but was told not to worry about it.
His plea agreement today does not require that he cooperate in any investigation into the slaughterhouse or its management.
It does require him to pay a $110 fine and spend two years on probation. The Mexican national, who has two America-born children, will likely be deported after serving his jail time.
Martinez said Herrera has met with USDA investigators, who questioned him about the plant's operations. The session lasted several hours and focused mostly on the safety of the meat that left the factory, Martinez said.
Herrera also has been asked to testify at state Senate hearings on food safety, Martinez said.
He probably won't be able to do so because he will go straight from jail to deportation hearings, the defense attorney said.
San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus said Herrera was quick to accept responsibility for his conduct.
She said the six-month jail sentence was appropriate given the seriousness of abuse caught on the tape.
"It was fair to both sides," she said. "Hopefully he can get on with his life and put this behind him."
As part of the plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss an old charge alleging Herrera possessed methamphetamine with intent to sell it in 2005.
That charge, a felony, could have brought him up to three years in prison.
Ploghaus said that case would have been difficult to prove anyway because the Chino police officer who arrested Herrera has since died.
Herrera was one of two employees slapped with criminal charges by the San Bernardino County district attorney in connection with the slaughterhouse abuse.
His supervisor, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, also was charged. Navarro faces five counts of felony animal cruelty and three misdemeanor charges of illegal moving of downed cows.
Navarro pleaded not guilty to those charges during his first court appearance Thursday.
He was scheduled to be in court Monday, but his attorney advanced the case and entered the plea early.
Navarro is scheduled to return to court April 17, at which time prosecutors will likely make him a plea offer. | Source: Daily Bulletin - March 21, 2008
Update posted on Mar 21, 2008 - 10:21PM |
A former slaughterhouse worker who was videotaped abusing ailing cattle in a case that led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history said in a jailhouse interview that he was only following orders.
Luis Sanchez said he felt bad when he saw how the cows were treated at Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., and insisted his boss taught him to use a forklift to move so-called downer cows along the slaughter line.
"That's how I was taught. He taught me to do the work. I didn't know it was a serious crime," Sanchez told the San Bernardino Sun in an interview published Friday.
Sanchez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was being held at the Adelanto Detention Center on immigration charges. He was charged with animal cruelty in the slaughterhouse case, but he also faced charges in two unrelated drug cases.
Sanchez's ex-boss, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of animal abuse and three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal. The counts carry a maximum prison sentence of 5 years, 8 months, prosecutors have said.
Navarro will be assigned an attorney by the county public defender's office at his March 24 arraignment.
Last month, the Agriculture Department issued the recall after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video of workers forcing sick and crippled cows to stand with electric prods and forklifts.
Sanchez appeared in the video using an electric prod.
Sanchez said he learned the company was handling the cows differently than other slaughterhouses from truck drivers who brought the animals to the plant. He said his supervisor told the workers to use care when federal inspectors were around.
Sanchez, who first came to the slaughterhouse about 10 years ago, said he doesn't understand why he's in jail.
"I think it's unjust that I'm here. Where are the people in charge?" he told the newspaper. | Source: Associatd Press via China Post - March 9, 2008
Update posted on Mar 9, 2008 - 1:57PM |
Although the Chino slaughterhouse case triggered national outrage and the nation's biggest meat recall, a second suspect faced only misdemeanor charges when he surrendered this week -- until his aliases and pending drug cases emerged.
"His worst problem is the felony possession for sale. It's (punishable by) mandatory state prison," San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus said Thursday of the defendant, whose true name she still doesn't know for certain. "We know him as Luis Sanchez, with a birth date of 3-8-75."
Under that identity, he is one of two men charged in the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. case that was filed in court earlier this month after an undercover investigator for the Humane Society of the United States secretly videotaped two slaughterhouse workers using forklifts, electric prods and a water hose to force apparently sick or injured cattle to their deaths.
Federal officials have recalled more than 143 million pounds of beef, including about 55 million pounds sold to the National School Lunch Program.
Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, a former supervisor at the now-closed slaughterhouse, surrendered last week to face prosecution on five felonies and three misdemeanors and has been released on $75,000 bail.
Sanchez -- or whoever he is -- was charged only with the three misdemeanor counts of using equipment to move animals in a slaughterhouse. If convicted as charged, he would face a maximum punishment of 1½ years in county jail, Ploghaus said.
But the legal road got rougher for him when he surrendered Wednesday afternoon to Chino police.
He gave jailers a slightly different name than expected: Jose Luis Sanchez. And his listed birthday is exactly a month earlier than prosecutors had used on his slaughterhouse charging documents, booking records show.
By doing some sleuthing, authorities found two other pending cases that they now attribute to him.
His fingerprints enabled them to make the connections, police said.
"When they take your fingerprints it all comes together," said Lt. Al Cheatham of the Chino Police Department. "All the aliases start popping up. If we can book you and get your fingerprints into the system, it's all automated now."
Even Cheatham doesn't know the man's true name. But the fingerprints prove all the cases involve the same defendant.
He pleaded guilty, as Rafael Sanchez Herrera, to a misdemeanor drug-possession charge in December 2003 and avoided any jail time by agreeing to enroll in a drug-rehabilitation program, Ploghaus said.
But Sanchez -- or Herrera, or Sanchez Herrera -- failed to show up for his final court hearing in that case, court records show.
And about that same time, he was charged in another case -- the felony possession-of-drugs-for-sale charge -- under the name of Rafael Sanchez, Ploghaus said.
Add up all of the pending cases and the man's bail would be $60,000, his booking records show.
But there's a no-bailhold on him because he also allegedly is an illegal immigrant.
"He won't be released," Ploghaus said, meaning that his immigration status and charge sheet will have to be reviewed in court before a judge considers setting a bail total.
He was arraigned on all the pending charges Thursday and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 28 in Chino. | Source: Press-Enterprise - Feb 22, 2008
Update posted on Feb 22, 2008 - 7:47PM |
A former slaughterhouse worker pleaded not guilty Thursday to three misdemeanor charges less than a day after police arrested him in connection with an animal-abuse investigation that has led to the largest recall of beef in this country's history.
Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said Thursday the agency expects Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. to pay for the recall and destruction of the meat.
Jose Luis Sanchez of Chino entered a plea during a brief arraignment in Chino Superior Court. A judge appointed a lawyer to represent him and ordered him to appear again March 28.
Prosecutors allege Sanchez abused cows while he worked at Westland/Hallmark. | Source: Island Valley Daily Bulletin - Feb 22, 2008
Update posted on Feb 22, 2008 - 6:24PM |
| Bench warrants for the arrest of Daniel Navarro, 49, of Pomona and Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino were issued after they failed to attend an afternoon arraignment. | Source: CBS 5 - Feb 15, 2008
Update posted on Feb 15, 2008 - 7:32PM |
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