( CNN ) -- Former workers at a California slaughterhouse involved in one of the largest meat recalls in years have been charged with knowingly processing and distributing meat from cancerous cows , according to court documents released Monday . Jesse J. Amaral Jr. , also known as `` Babe Amaral , '' was the former President and General Manager of the Rancho Feeding Corporation in Petaluma . He and his former employees , Felix Sandoval Cabrera and Eugene Corda , have all been charged with conspiring to sell and distribute `` adulterated , misbranded , and uninspected '' meat . Prosecutors allege that Amaral directed Corda and Cabrera to circumvent inspection procedures for certain cows with signs of epithelioma of the eye , also known as `` cancer eye . '' This included directing employees to carve `` USDA Condemned '' stamps out of certain cow carcasses and to process them for sale and distribution , despite having been rejected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian . Corda and Cabrera are also alleged to have replaced the heads of sick cows with those of healthy ones , placing the healthy heads next to the bodies of cows whose eyes had signs of cancer . The switch occurred during the inspectors ' lunch break , prosecutors said . Massive recall . Between January 2013 and January 2014 , Rancho processed and distributed meat from approximately 101 condemned cattle and approximately 79 cancer eye cows , according to court documents . Nearly 9 million pounds of meat from the Rancho plant was recalled in February . The recalled beef may have reached 35 states and Guam , the Department of Agriculture said . Nestle USA also issued a voluntary recall in February of some types of Hot Pockets , saying that it had determined that `` a small quantity of meat from Rancho was used at Nestle 's Chatsworth , California , production operation , '' which is devoted entirely to Hot Pockets sandwiches . Maximum sentence of 20 years . Amaral is also charged with sending false invoices to farmers , telling them that their cattle had died or been condemned and charging them `` handling fees '' for disposal of the carcasses , instead of compensating them for the sale price , prosecutors said . If convicted , Amaral , Cabrera , and Corda could face up to 20 years imprisonment and $ 250,000 in fines . CNN 's attempts to reach the former workers and an attorney representing them were unsuccessful . An attorney for Amaral , Jeffrey Borstein , told CNN in May that his client did n't intend to hurt anyone . `` He takes responsibility for mistakes in judgment that were made . He made mistakes in judgment , '' Bornstein said . `` He regrets not being better able to recognize , respond and stop some of these alleged bad practices earlier . He 's extremely remorseful . '' USDA investigation . In June , after a CNN report exposed issues surrounding the beef recall , the U.S. House of Representatives authorized $ 1 million in additional funding to `` provide for a swift completion '' of the Department of Agriculture 's investigation into the Rancho Feeding Corporation . Cabrera was a foreman responsible for Rancho 's `` kill floor , '' where cattle were slaughtered , and Corda worked to receive and transport cattle for inspection and slaughter . The plant has since been sold . Opinion : Recalls and near misses -- Who 's protecting us ? CNN 's Chris Frates and Shannon Travis contributed to this report .
Former workers at a California slaughterhouse have been indicted . They are accused of distributing `` adulterated , misbranded , and uninspected '' meat . Prosecutors allege that the workers processed cows with signs of `` cancer eye '' Authorities recalled nearly 9 million pounds of meat from the slaughterhouse in February .