Florida Men Sentenced for Multimillion-Dollar, Organized Meat Theft Ring

Aug. 3, 2023

The three men stole an estimated $9 million worth of meat in refrigerated trailers over the course of 17 months in the Great Plains and Midwest.

Andy Hanacek

The U.S. District Court in southern Florida sentenced three men to two years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for a multimillion-dollar, organized meat theft ring that victimized beef and pork plants in the Midwest and Great Plains in 2022. It also ordered the men to pay more than $206,000 in restitution.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security spearheaded the investigation and eventually arrested Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, 39; Ledier Machin Andino, 38; and Delvis L. Fuentes, 40, for transportation of stolen goods and money laundering. The men were accused of orchestrating more than 40 thefts between June 2021 and October 2022 in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin — at an estimated loss of $9 million to the processing companies.

The men pleaded guilty to possession of stolen goods.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.