Rhode Island Beef and Veal
On September 29, 2023, Legal Impact for Chickens moved for permission to file an amicus brief in USA v. Rhode Island Beef & Veal, 20-cr-93.
USA v. Rhode Island Beef & Veal is a federal criminal court case. The Rhode Island Beef and Veal slaughterhouse pled guilty to pretending to have USDA inspection.
On November 1, 2023, the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted LIC permission to file an amicus brief in the sentencing. LIC filed its amicus brief the next day.
LIC argued that the slaughterhouse’s term of probation should take into account its history of animal cruelty.
LIC’s amicus brief explains:
RI Beef & Veal’s crimes involved depriving animals of the benefit of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors. This is alarming, given RI Beef & Veal’s history of mistreating animals—and the frequency at which USDA inspectors have had to intervene to protect those animals. Moreover, RI Beef & Veal’s crimes involved deceiving the public about the lack of such inspectors. And this fact is alarming given that members of the public have repeatedly expressed concern about RI Beef & Veal’s mistreatment of animals.
LIC thus suggested the maximum probation term: fifteen years.
On April 29, 2024, the defendant slaughterhouse filed its sentencing memorandum. In so doing, the slaughterhouse felt the need to address LIC’s amicus brief regarding animal cruelty. The slaughterhouse asked for a one-and-a-half-year probation term.
On April 30, 2024, the court held a sentencing hearing. LIC’s Rhode Island local counsel, Stephen A. Rodio, attended.
At the hearing, Judge Mary S. McElroy sentenced the defendant slaughterhouse to three years of probation, a $20,000 fine, and a $1,200 special assessment. The terms of probation include that “[t]he defendant organization shall not commit another federal, state or local crime.” The defendant slaughterhouse has also apparently entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, placing restrictions on the slaughterhouse to deter and prevent future misbehavior.