Canadian Corporation Pleads Guilty To Importation Of Contaminated Cattle Feed

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Yves Bolduc, President of the Quebec cattle feed brokerage and manufacturing company, Meunerie Sawyerville, Inc., appeared today in United States District Court in Rutland to enter a plea of guilty on behalf of the Canadian corporation. The defendant corporation pled guilty to one felony count of making a false statement to Customs and Border Protection officials, and one felony count of fraudulently causing the cattle feed drug monensin to be introduced into interstate commerce at a level of concentration significantly higher than that allowed by the Food and Drug Administration.

According to court documents, on or about Sept. 12, 2012, Meunerie Sawyerville sent a driver into the United States with a truckload of cattle feed medicated with the regulated drug monensin at a concentration above that allowed by the FDA and 200% above the amount on the feed label. The feed was sampled at the border, and the driver was ordered to warehouse the feed pending further testing from the FDA. Contrary to orders from U.S. officials, Bolduc instructed the driver to deliver the feed to the Vermont farmer as planned, without informing the farmer that the feed had been sampled and ordered held by the FDA. The driver did deliver the medicated feed to the customer, and the Vermont cows consumed the contaminated feed.

Bolduc thereafter engineered a plan that a sham shipment of similar-looking cattle feed cross the border under false Customs documentation to be stored on an unrelated piece of land in Vermont until requested for redelivery by Customs and Border Protection. Upon Customs’ request, Bolduc ordered that the sham shipment be presented for redelivery, accompanied by the fictitious documentation, offering up the sham shipment feed to the U.S. government as the held tainted feed that was in fact already consumed by Vermont cows.

According to court documents, the parties have agreed that the appropriate sentence is a fine of $80,000, and a term of probation of one year. The actual sentence will be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.

Meunerie Sawyerville is represented by Attorney Bud Allen. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail Averbach.