DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - According to plea papers, the defendants admitted to selling more than 775,000 pounds of uninspected, misbranded, or adulterated meat to 32 prison institutions in 18 states, for which BOP paid $1,011,166.72.
The product included whole cow hearts, which are not permitted in ground beef products and were labeled as "ground beef."
West Texas Provisions, Inc. president Jeffery Smith, 49, and operations manager Derrick Martinez confessed to selling more than 775,000 pounds of uninspected, misbranded, or adulterated meat to 32 prison institutions in 18 states. They marketed it as USDA inspected when it wasn't.
Plea papers indicate the company processed the hearts on nights and weekends, when inspectors weren't working and kept the whole hearts offsite until inspectors left the premises.
The papers say they often kept the lights off inside the facility while processing uninspected meat, hid it in the freezer while inspectors were in the building, and distracted inspectors from looking at the product.
A sentencing date has not been set.
Both Smith and Martinez face up to five years in prison.