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Slaughterhouse Owners Face Federal Charges Friday

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Two men who were arrested last week for violating food safety and slaughtering swine and goats inhumanely appeared in court Friday morning.

Gelio Hernandez, 50, of Hialeah, and Angel Busurot, 46, of Miami, face five charges, including inhumane slaughtering of swine and sale of uninspected and adulterated swine meat for human consumption.

The men owned and operated Finca El Novillo, an unincorporated slaughterhouse, located on NW 122nd Avenue in Miami-Dade.

Court documents allege that Hernandez and Busurot processed, handled, stored and sold the meat at the slaughterhouse for human consumption.

The documents state the men knowingly distributed swine which had been prepared and held under insanitary conditions, and were never inspected and approved in compliance with the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

The indictment alleges that, as a result, the meat "may have become contaminated and been rendered harmful to health."

In addition to unsafe food practices, the men are charged with killing the animals without "first rendering them insensible to pain."

If convicted, the men face up to three years in prison for each charge brought against them.

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