Authorities have announced that a Loxahatchee man who pleaded guilty to charges of running an illegal slaughterhouse will avoid jail time.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 53-year-old Victor Gonzalez ran the El Milagro Nursery where animals were killed inhumanely.
Agents raided the business back in December of 2016.
According to court records, Gonzalez was responsible for the day-to-day management and oversight of El Milagro’s activities, and engaged in the slaughtering, processing, handling, storing, and selling of meat and meat food products in commerce, for human consumption, including swine.
The officers said they observed employees slaughtering the pigs for customers without doing it humanely. The premises lacked proper, operable equipment to stun or otherwise render the animals insensible to pain, as required by law.
The plea deal includes three-years of probation and a $75,000 fine.
He originally faced up to three years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a year of supervised release.