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Guilty pleas for men arrested in multi-state frozen meat thefts

Three men have pleaded guilty to charges for stealing frozen meat across several Midwestern states that totaled $9 million in losses.

Investigators say the men conducted a sophisticated, organized criminal enterprise in 2022 that consisted of 45 thefts of beef and pork from packing plants across Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South and North Dakota. Investigators say the men scoped out plants and drove away with semi-trailers full of frozen meat.

The men, Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, Ledier Machin Andino and Delvis L. Fuentes, from the Miami, Florida area, were charged with transportation of stolen goods and money laundering and have entered plea agreements where they could face up to two years in prison. According to court documents in the US District Court for the District of Southern Florida, the men will be ordered to pay more than $200,000 each in restitution.

In June of 2022, the Lancaster County Sheriff in Nebraska was notified about two thefts near Lincoln and discovered several additional cases throughout the region.  Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies tracked cell phones and GPS locations before the men were arrested in Tennessee.