SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has delayed sentencing to prison a former co-owner of Petaluma, Calif.-based Rancho Feeding Corp. Jesse “Babe” Amaral will be sentenced on Feb. 10, 2016, on conspiracy charges.

In February this year, Amaral entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to distribute adulterated, misbranded and uninspected meat. Amaral and other individuals associated with Rancho Feeding were charged with selling meat from condemned cows and dairy cows with eye cancer. The case resulted in a recall of approximately 8.7 million lbs. of meat products.


US District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer approved the new sentencing date over the objections of the US Attorney’s Office in San Francisco, who sought to have Amaral sentenced on Dec. 16. The original sentencing date was in July, but was later moved to September. Amaral is facing up to 28 years in prison.