Owner of Meat Plant Fined In Case Of Fudged Bacterial Tests

TOLLAND, CT — The owner of a Tolland County meat plant has been fined in a case of falsified bacterial tests, a leading prosecutor said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that 33-year-old Memet Bemet Beqiri, also known as, Matt Beqiri, of Tolland, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to two years of probation for fabricating E. coli test results at his meat processing business.

Judge Thompson also ordered Beqiri to pay a $15,000 fine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Beqiri is the owner and general manager of New England Meat Packing, LLC, located in Stafford Springs, a federally inspected business engaged in the slaughtering, processing, selling and transporting of meat and meat food products for human consumption.

Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) approved Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for New England Meat Packing, the company is required to perform one generic E. coli carcass swab for every 300 animals slaughtered and to periodically collect ground beef samples for E. coli testing.

Durham said that, between Nov. 3, 2016 and September 9, 2017, Beqiri authorized the preparation and submission in the company's Lab Sample Report binder, which the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service reviews, a total of 36 documents relating to 52 separate carcass swabs and ground beef samples on behalf of New England Meat Packing.

The 36 documents were each on the letterhead of a certified laboratory that tests food product samples to ensure safety and wholesomeness and signed by the laboratory director, he said.

The documents stated that the required E. coli testing of samples submitted by New England Meat Packing had been conducted and completed, and that all 52 samples tested negative for E. coli case records show. None of the 52 carcass swabs and samples had been submitted or tested by the identified laboratory, or any other laboratory, and the 36 documents were fraudulently prepared using laboratory letterhead obtained from previous testing that New England Meat Packing had conducted with that laboratory, Durham said.

During the investigation of the matter, Beqiri admitted to an investigator with the USDA's FSIS that the documents were fraudulent, and that his business did not collect and submit the samples to the certified laboratory because he did not correlate the potential impact on food safety with his sampling program and wanted to create the appearance he was compliant with all USDA HACCP testing requirements, Durham said.

There have been no known instances of illnesses reported by anyone who consumed the meat in any of the states where the meat was distributed.

On August 20, 2019, Beqiri pleaded guilty to one count of making and using a false document and aiding and abetting.