Bennington Man Sentenced

Albany, New York — CRAIG ACTON, age 44, of Bennington Vermont, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe to 2 years of probation and 50 hours of community service for his fraudulent use of a United States Department of Agriculture inspection legend on meat products that he sold commercially, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. ACTON previously entered a guilty plea on August 23, 2012.

Between January and June of 2011, in Greene County and elsewhere in New York, ACTON purchased meat products commercially, repackaged that meat using the “USDA” inspection legend stamp of another company, and then resold the meat commercially without authorization. ACTON intended to mislead the consumers who purchased his product into believing that his product was properly inspected.

United States Attorney Hartunian praised the outstanding efforts of the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and Food Safety Inspection Service in this investigation. He stated, “The public relies on the integrity of our food supply, and my office will aggressively prosecute anyone who fraudulently subverts the USDA’s important food safety regulations.”

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and Food Safety Inspection Service .