Howard Mora and Alan Buxbaum pled guilty in a federal court in Brooklyn, NY, to selling misbranded lower quality beef at inflated prices to consumers.
The pair was convicted on wire fraud charges for using counterfeit USDA stamps. Between September 2011 and October 2014, the defendants were co-owners of A. Stein Meat Products, Inc., a wholesale meat processing and distribution business located in Brooklyn.
During this period, the defendants purchased beef products that had been graded Choice quality by graders at the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and directed their employees to carve off the Choice markings and re-stamp them as Prime using counterfeit stamps.
