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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgriculture Natural Lean Pork Pig Farm 1984AGBOt P of metropolitan New Y ors meat pac ser, and related businessmen have pooled an esti- mated 510 million to launch what will almost cerumly he one of the largest hog operations east of the Mississippi R,,er perhaps m the country Natural Lean Pork Company. Inc , has taken o,er the former Babcock ,omplex at 13 large, virtu- alh new poultry homes near Tru -N,, York. eight miles tram Ithaca It in,ol,es 154acres of land ea,h budding is slated to house 2 500 hoes each Th, estimated sapaciv of such a ,encore is hb.000 hags per yea, or dnuhle 'bar it they add a second deck m each hmldmg, or higher still it plans to place animals with nedrh, tarmers to contract -grow for the Companv are enacted Behind the ,enure ere such names .is Miduav Provision Company. New 't ark Cit,, Carr 1 ransportation Companv Newdrk Nev, Jersey, Stone and Compaq, Miami. Strass- burger Companv \era 1'nrk Civ. Cin Cut Pork. \era Jersey, Three B.,sProvision Cor n} and Roberts Food Companv (both in Brooklyn) BI. -Sal Provisions, Bronx. \era York. Pork Packers, Inc New Nark Gry.Rico Pnvismn C ompam. Newa rl, New Jersey, and John Starer Companv. Chicago Nearly all are major names in meat packing and distribution Anihom, DeAngelis is emploved bis one of the packing companies in New Jersev He has been assigned the task offsetting up the hogfarm forthe consortium, in connection with three managers- Darrvl Gnffth. Todd Blanchard and lack Aennev Ac- cording to DeAngelis, the venture Is strictly a matter of economics. of being competitive in a New York marketplace that consumes 40,000 hogs per day and That is constantly growing in Mum ethnic groups that eat a lot of pork DeAngelis and his managers cite expensive and rising trucking of hogs from the midwest to New York City as foremost In prompting this venture_ "The whole idea is to produce pork closer to the consuming markets, not from Iowa and Illinois." says De- Angelis "lis easy to figure out It Tucks from brdf—c, Ontario, and other hog producma artsas umcaded 600 pias at a time in DeceIDbe[. costs three cents a pound to truck a 250 pound hog from the midwest to New York City. Along the way, it will shrink four to five percent, so that's another cost of $IO to $12 per hog" That puts the midwest hog farmer at about a $15 a hog cost disadvantage in the New York City market. DeAngelis is counting on another bigsavmgs-whey Central New York State is vinuallyawash in by-product whey from its cheese manufacturing factories, and certain types of whey (the less acid type), make an excellent protemsou Ct Hecalmlatesanother $10 per hog cost advantage from whey, fed as a slurry with cam, barley, wheat, soybean meal, min- erals and vitamins White DeAngelis and his investor companies like the economics. they — ' -rYilM1 �1 iaauP brna 4 wru[u vex wit miuc ti OttlGaLt of the Mw NaturatLeoa PoxkCompany, Tmmansbu[g, Nawyorl (left to night) Donald D1Muro, Todd Blanchard. John Kenney. Darryl Gamma. Angela BroccooerL and Anthony DeAngelis also like the freshness and increased shelf life of a product ratted and slaughtered locally, requiring a truck tide of only five hours to market And then there is the grain. "If you take Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario as one area, it would be the fifth largest gram - producing state"he says "We've got everything here. The grain, the close- ness to market, the excellent high- ways to get to market, the quality whey it's totally complete. Why not New York Stater Why not New York? Why not New York?" he repeats, He points to Albany Packing Company as a good example of what can happen to a long-established Pork packer who doesn't find a way to keep costs down. Albany Packing went out of business a year ago, and with it an outlet for 2.500 hogs per day disappeared Loan pork Everybody recognizes that "nay ural" is the right word to use in mar- keting almost anything In today's wonted marketplace Lean is. too To produce lean and top-quality pork, DeAngelis is relying on the advice of a long list of college and private consultants, as well as repre- sentatives of state government Angela Bracconen has joined the company to run the feed -procure- ment operations Her map on the wall looks like a combat operations map She has pins running (Tom southern Pennsylvania up through nonhern New York and Canada, each one marking a dairy factory or feed source where she can bu, whey and grain to feed all those pigs When operating at capann. the Natural Lean Pork complex should )e consuming, she estimates. 80 anker loads a day of whey (5 500 ;allons per truckload) Grains will be purchased from selected firms, although the company does plan to buy as much as a can locally and to grow some of their own A soybean crushing plant is scheduled for Installation soon This will present opportunities or compe- inch lot local farmers in the area. depending on whether bev are on the buvmg end or the selling end of the grain business Similarly opportu- Toties ma, be developing for the many owners of empty poultry houses in contracting with Natural Lean Pork in several programs under consideration - If Natural Lean Pork Companv throes. many of these small farms could be convened to contract finish- ing or farrowing operators De - Angel's and his team are actively con- sidering this and want In maintain good relations with their neighbors to promote this future development Slaughter The meat packers who comprise Natural Lean Pork Company use an average of 5,000 hogs a day Alreadv on the drawing board are plans for a new slaughterhouse near the com- plex Its capacnv is projected at 3.000 hogs per day, five days per week, or 780,000 hogs per year. DeAngelis expects a third of that to come from Natural Lean Pork's own complex, a third to be purchased from other New York State hog raisers, and a third to come from Canada The fact that Natural Lean Pork's own complex can't produce that much points out that more buildings and more on -premises production are already planned DeAngelis says 250 people will be employed at the slaughter plant Waste dispersal It wilt be a miracle if the farm and slaughterhouse escape from environ- mentalist torpedoes Nearby Ithaca is a college town and well stocked with Sierra Clobbers. And what wdl such a complex do with liquid manure' DeAngelis says "The most modern and sophisticated waste -management system Is contemplated Under -slat tconvnum on rasa 0) On slatted noon neer a Ifautd manage system, these, pugs well occupy courted poultry bufld- togs. 1.980 JMD 191 is HOG COMPi.HE ..... (cominuM tmm Poke is) deep pits will contain compressed -au and centrifugal pumps hlologtcalk treating the moving waste-slurr} Each week. the slurry is removed by twin suction pumps that move it to a separator budding created to Elmira contractor Charles Ohm and Som with the assistance of Paul Vanherg of De Laval (Agricultural Dnnnn of Alla-Laval. Inc 1 Thesystem l svinu alk odor -tree. the sohds are shipped to greenhouses and cla rifled liquid with good leftll Ver properties are provided free of charge to area farms " Times a'changing' We\c been hearing since the oil emharen of 1971 that risingtranspor- lation costs would drive mum apes A agricujture cast closer to the New N ork Cnv market although it has usuulh been vckewhles that have been predicted to shit There n aka an idea around then says theeconomv nn ( mereh rebounding it is re- shaping avth nen nmnern and new losers Natural Lean Pork Compam n evidence it hoth Potential contract eniwers and grain Iarni can contact 'ars \necld Bmcconeri Natural Lean Pork Co Inc at 607 387-5783 or by nncang her at Route I Nov 328. Trumanshurg. New York 14886 ■ DAIRY LAW ..... (ConoweE from page ta) decision ahout participation In the paidainenlnn part of the new dmn program And also remember that a new (arm hill will he written In 1985 and it the dais iii hasn't hs then gotten its ,upph-demand house norder there'll betuugh times for the diory Iohhvnts oa 'the Hill" along the Potomac' ■ Here is their situation They are young, under thirty, and earn about a 5250.000 debt on their 120-eow freestall operation They rented a farm, and worked as hired hands on a farm before that, while budding up equity and livestock before purchas- ing their own farm six yearsago The Larson are short of callable land, owning 60 acres and renting another 200 Additional land would be ex- pensive to buy and too far away to rent, in their analysis Cvndy says bluntly, "It sure would be nice to cut that debt load down and at the same time, reduce our herd to a size we would rather manage anvwav- The Larson are a hard- working, go-gei um farm couple, but they put a high priority on spending time with their children and enjoying those special moments in farm life 9 look forward to the day when we can have a better, smaller farm" says Cyndy Try alfalfa Rich has not grown any alfalfa since having the farm, but he knows that must change if Lar -Cyn farm is to avoid a dinosaur's death He has 37 acres already limed and fitted for spring seeding He has two Harvestores, one for shelled corn that he can buy locally for $70 a ton cheaper than he can buy corn meal. and the other is for haylage Hissirategyisto produceas much high-quality homegrown feed as cheaply as possible. As of December 9, 1983, Rich and Cyndy were still thinking about the dairy compromise law. They have not seen enough firm information about it (or the administrative rules that will govern it) to make up their minds But it looks as though receiv- ing 510 per hundredweight to reduce production may suit their situation and objectives If they can qualify, cut their debt almost in half, make a decent living, and cut the farm operation down toa size more to their liking, that is prob- ably what they will do But, they will be reading the fine print very care- fully, — A.R.K. ■ NO QUESTION is more fre- quently asked by dairy farmers today than, "How are these farms going to survnvP" A glance across the hills toward the neighbors usually comes with the question The two 50c assessments took the wind out of their economic sails, and the new compromise dairy law isn't a stiff -enough breeze to set the industry sailing again. Drought and PIK have pushed feed prices from 51 10 a ton to 5160 to 5170 a ton. according to some farmers The government wanted to put a tourniquet on the gush of milk, and so tightened it around the cash flow. On• outlook Rich and Cyndy Larson, of Wells. Vermont, have sorted through their options The ones that seem to make the most sense on their farm are to feed less grain and to volunteer for the SIO a hundredweight pavment that will be made to farmers who reduce milk production .rwnkwkr 194114, Page 12 Odyssey Publications March 7,1984 Natural LeanPork movesinto T -burg May capture the Northeast pork By CANDACE GAL/K TRUMANSBURG— Trumansburg may very soon become the center of hog raising and slaughtering in the Northeast if Natural Lean Pork achieves its goals. They moved into the former ISA -Babcock property six months ago and are in the process of building a major meat operation. General Manager An- thony DeAngelis ex- plained that the reasons for Natural Lean Pork's selection of this area were totally economic. Pointing to a map, he ran his finger down a line from Montreal, Canada, to the New York City area. Trumansburg is centrally located along "the Canada -New York pipeline," as DeAngelis called it. Eighty percent of Canada's hogs are raised near Montreal, and 25 percent of these must be shipped out of the country because of Canada's overproduc- tion. The company plans to In 1983 the were 40 hog slaughterers in New York. Today— with the exception of Natural Lean Pork in Trumansburg—Tnere are none. slaughter 6,000 pigs per day to supply 27 meat packers in the New. York -New Jersey metropoli- tan area. To meet this need, Natural Lean is contracting with farmers throughout upstate New York to raise feeder pigs. They will then buy them back from the farmers when the hogs reach 50 pounds. Natural Lean then finishes them off to a market size of 230 pounds: DeAngelis said that a slaughterhouse and a processing plant will either be built or ac- quired shortly. Process- ing will -be limited to ba - con and ham. DeAngelis emphasized that they will deal with any farmer who has proper hog -raising facili- ties. "Ten or 20 pigs are okay," he said. "Quan- tity is not important. We are more interested in the quality of the people." They also expect to hire between 400 and 500 em- ployees over the next two years. "In 1938, there were 40 hog slaughterers in New York," DeAngelis recalled. "Do you know how many there are to- day? None. The last was Albany Packing Com- pany, and they were los- ing $30,000 a week just in transportation costs. Nobody could stay in business with that ex- pense." Virtually all of the pork consumed in the - Northeast today is shipped from the Chica- go area, 1,200 miles dis- tant. By raising their own hogs, slaughtering them, and shipping them via their own trucks, Na- tural Lean Pork plans to grab a large share of the New York -New Jersey - Connecticut region's 50 million potential cus- tomers. ce Mots; faster agels s Ya„trees+Yo P -b. Pogo T3• Texos men Iwo lot” by police U Poge 3' forecast charged Weather SoOHY aY is IookMg o 4. w aal A �u as "Ito ° ea Y . lootsio doY• POO . 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Pock k>ter ttejtouaCounty tow( ad Vols aCla°Ut is 7lrvin8 SO4 is near Ore. eO° Vol, mil S other V re tnfuetpcUO° w R osteo whip the ilnasntC�y pordk U,Naturaica a LASS ?,I kU se totthose the 4Y d Ccity n mblems pasaid nd ocess" t from tarme" t°parktistan8, USDAnal, YnsP,.boblY Bn{er weight house, and Plants regnudePartment PA, because ot De I ercoming iromal WAhS `° of t 6Tlifach file°°coft n for int" the toe MENS Boxv I lnc}nir'< at d rn r` H •.a Sa a 6 T P Co rn tow v i --u■ ■VV11IJ• I VV %A 47 the salad oil king By HELEN MUNDELL Journal Staff ENFIELD— Anthony "Tino" DeAngelis jogged beside a cattle truck carrying Natu- ral Lean Pork's first load of hogs -to slaughter. As.the wind howled and the snow swirled around its tires, the truck crawled from a converted poultry house to the company's offices on Podunk Road. De Angelis shoved the front door open, stamped the snow from his boots and apologized for being late. A short, round, muscular man who looks much younger than his 68 years, De Angelis hung his jacket on a coat rack, and mo- tioned toward his spartanly furnished of- fice. As general manager of Natural Lean Pork Inc., De Angelis has run the 145 -acre farm in Enfield since December. Natural Lean Pork, owned by several meat packers, raises hogs here to sell to the owners' pork marketing firms in the New York metropolitan area. The owners expect to build plants on the Enfield farni•to cut meat and render lard. Plans to construct plants to crush soybeans and refine the oil are also being considered. If there's anything De Angelis knows about, its soybeans, salad oil and pigs. He's been working with them, off and on, since he was a young man. Soybeans, salad oil and pigs "From 1948 to 1963 I was the largest exporter of vegetable oils and animal fats from the United States," De Angelis said. "I was the salad oil king. I had 32 plants. The government acknowledges I did 68 percent of all exports year after year. "There's a 400 -page book written- about me — my rise and my collapse." Some would call it a downfall. It led to seven years, 1965 to 1972, in the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pa. DeAngelis was considered the mastermind behind a swindle which left more than 20 companies bankrupt. Eight years after he was paroled, De Angelis went back to prison — this time, to the federal penitentiary at Terre Haute, Ind. He was convicted in 1980 of racketeer- ing, mail fraud and conspiracy. DeAngelis owed livestock dealers and hog farmers more than $3.2 million, according to the March 4, 1980, edition of The Wall Street Journal. De Angelis claims he paid back more than $600,000 of that debt, and said he's still trying to pay the rest. His contract with Natural Lean Pork provides for his share of the company's profits to go to his creditors, he said. He also owes the Internal Revenue Ser- vice $6.52 million, plus interest, for unpaid taxes, an IRS spokesman said. De Angelis said he'd like to pay that back, too. Perhaps it is that kind of attitude that causes even his creditors to consider him in a kinder light. Livestock dealer A.J. Speight of Green- ville, N,C,, described "Mr. DeAngelis" recently as "very open" and "a likable fellow." He said De Angelis, who still owes him about 532,000 from their first transactfions, paid him most of the 535,000 owed on their second deal. "He never gave up the idea he's going to pay me. I don't know that he can." "The first year we done business, every- thing went well," Speight said. "Then he got mixed up with some shady characters down here. I don't think the downfall was all his fault. The FBI told us he deliberately set us up, but I don't believe that." Another livestock dealer, Thurston Paulk of Douglas, Ga., said he doesn't know how much De Angelis owes him, but Paulk said he is "not too worried about it." "Mr. De Angelis never lied to me. He always did what he said he was going to. He get caught in a down market, just like a lot of other dealers did and lost a lot of money," Paulk said. De Angelis's exploits were turned into a 249 -page expose, "The Great Salad Oil Swindle," by reporter Norman C. Miller. A series of Wall Street Journal articles on the "salad oil king" won Miller a Pulitzer Prize. DeAngelis figures in another book, "Vi- cious Circles: The Mafia in the Market- place," by Jonathan Kwitny, also a Wall Street Johmal reporter. Kwitny says that although numerous attempts have been made to connect De Angelisto the Mafia, "the conclusions were all tenuous." Asked if he has ever had a Mafia connec- tion, De Angelis said, "Absolutely not. Never in my life." Kwitny also wrote that the FBI wire- tapped several Mafia figures who talked about De Angelis' "take" in the salad oil swindle: $438 million. 'My conscience is clear' Asked about that, De Angelis said, "Oh, God bless 'em. That's a fairy tale concoc- tion. My conscience is clear. I swear by God Almighty, I don't have a penny, except my salary, and that goes to my wife. I take about $100 a week for living expenses." He lives alone, next to his office in a double -wide mobile home, heated by a pot- bellied wood stove. His wife, Lillian, lives in Fort Lee, N.J., and occasionally comes up to visit, he said. De Angelis said he was born Nov. 3, 1915 in Harlem. The family lived in a cold -water flat with gas lights. His father was a railroad worker, his mother "a saint" who taught him never to harm anyone, he said. There was no swindle, he said, calling his business problems "a clear case of crimi- nal rape." De Angelis blames his salad oil troubles on a consortium of the nation's 16 largest grain dealers. He explains it this way: By selling large Turn to KING. Page 5 The Ithaca Journal Saturday April 7, 1984 page 5 N King Contained from Page $ quantities of soybean oil, caused the price of soybeans to rise. Prod- uction of huge quantities of myltenn oil led, in turn, to huge surpluses of soy meal So the 16 largest gram dealers in the United States put together the Vegetable Oil Export Co., to com- pete against Mm in the overseas market, De Angelis said. The export company cost him mutton of dollars, DeAngelis claimed, by stopping a $X,5 million sale to the Spanish government. Eventually, the Vegetable Oil Ex - Pon Co. threw roadblocks in the way of his purchase of oil. Unable to buy enough oil to supply his customers. De Angelis said he began to purchase contracts for future dr livery of vegetable oils. De Angelis' financial collaPW started soon after he almost c r- nered the vegetable oils market m November 1965. He said one of the grain com- panies found out how many con- tracts his company owned, and an officer of (he company called and asked: "Could you take a drop of 1 or 2 cents a pound?" Immediately after, De Angelis said, the price began to drop. The drop cost him millions, De Angelis claimed during an interview at his Enfield office. Out of cash, he said he forged some American Express warehouse receipts and used them as collateral W get loam for the mar&requir merits and to buy more to keep the price up. Eventually, Ile Angelis said he confessed to forgery. "I committed a wrong," he said. "I paid the penalty " But the wrong, and the only wrong, he stud, was to (orge signatures on some warehouse receipts. A different account Published accounts of the salad oil transactions, both in Miller's book and in the Wall Street Journal of March 12 and Sept. Ig, 1964, and Jan. Il, Jute 1, and Aug. 19, 1965, differ from De Angelis's version. De Angela was indicted, the pub - belied accounts say, for forging warehouse receipts of American Ex- press Warehousing Ltd. At first, he pleaded innocent; he later changed lus Plea to guilty. He was also indicted for oblainmg and ming as collateral other ware- house receipts which were not backed by stored oil and for offering a ;25,0D9 bribe to a warehouse in- spector checking on how much oil De Angelis had in storage. The salad oil and pork scandals are Out De Angel's' only encounters with live law, according m published accounts. Those sources say that since the 19406, DeAngelis has settled several government suits with outof-cwin payments. The complaints had charged De Angela with overbilling government agencies, delivering un- inspected meat to the federal school lunch program, and understatingthe ffnancases l losof a meatpacking firm to stockholders The salad oil debacle stemmed from De Angelis' role as president of Allied Crude Vegetable til Refin- ing Corp. of New Jersey, organized in 1955. DeAngelis's firm purchased the vegetable oils and animal fats large- ly an credit, posting warehouse re- ceipu on oil supposedly stored at its Bayonne, N.1, tank farm as enl- lateral. In November 1963, a sharp drop in the price of oil forced Allied into bankruptcy Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that $150 million worth of oil — supposedly lated on warehouse receipts to secure the loans — did not mat and probably never existed, according to news- paper accounts at the time. Mott than 20 banks. investment firms and other parties declared bankruptcy when they found that the money they had loaned De Angelis was backed by virtually worthless receipts, the newspapers reported. De Angelis later testified, accord- ing to the Dec. 9, 1965, Wall Street Journal, that he had put water in the oil tanks as early tae 1960 to mislead independent firms that periodically checked the oil levels, and had writ. ten receipts certifying the amount of oil Allied had stored. He also ad- mittted forging signatures on some warehouse receipts he had stolen. Authorities discovered that some of Allied's tanks contained false bottoms and other tanks. which were supposed to contain oil, did not even exist, according to Miller's book. The who's who of Natural Lean Pork BY JONATHAN ROSENBLUM and HELEN MUNDELL Jownd Staff Officals who have dealt with Nat- ural Lean Pork Co. Inc, say that Anthony "Thm" De Angelis is the primary mover behind the Enfield pig farm Yet De Angelis says he is just "an employes!.. subject to dismissal at any time by a majority vote of the directors " Nature] lean Pork's directors in- clude more than a down meat pru- visiorers and business executives, most of whom are based in the New York City area. The board's president is John Lombardo, who heads up Lombardo Comructim Co. M Edgewater, N.J. Tetany, N.J., town official Law- rence Gragnano is board treasurer; The secretary, a retired banker Donald Dimuro of the Bronx. Executive Committee members include Charles DeLuca, president of Pork Packers Inc. of New York City, Louis De Angela, who said he is mt related to Anthony De Angelis and who a president of City Cul Pork Co of Alpine, N.J., and Lown Grge iti Sr., president of Brooklyn's Midway Prowston Co The other 14 directors include presidents of four additional meat companies and officers of several other firms. The only Ithacan a Stanley So". an "motive of Borow & Co. of 205 Stone Quarry Road. De Angelis said he's known most of the directors for several decades He said he went to work at DeLuca's hog processing plant immediately after receiving his second parole early last year. The 145 -acre Enfield farm. which includes $3 houses originally de- signed for poultry along with other outbuildings, is owned by De Angelis Farms Inc., whose president Is Louis De Angelis Loua De Angelis said he leases the farm to Natural Lean Pork. The farm, formerly owned by ISA/Babcock Breeders Inc of Krems Corners on the Enfield- Ulymes tire, came into De Angela' hands through a tvv�tep trans- action on Aug 26, according to records in the county clerk's office J William Kenney and Asa L Culver, who own Agri Culver Inc of Mecklenburg, purchased the proper- ty from ISA/Babcock on that date for $312,500, the records indicate The two then mid the land to De Angela Farms on a land contract for f432.OD), of which $125,000 was paid immedtalely in cash De Angels Farms agreed W pay the remander in three annual m- staliments at a 9 percent interest rate. Under a land contract, the deed does Out change hands until the full amount is paid. At the time, an lSA/Babcock of- ficial said the firm sold the land and buildings because they weren't being used. Kenney and Culver, knowing the 145 -acre farm was for sale, became involved in the transaction when they learned that DeAngelis Farms was looking for properly in the area. John and Darryl Kenney, sons of J. Wiliam Kenney, were hired by Natural Lean Pork to be operation supervisors when the farm opened for business. William Kenney said recently that Darryl Kenney has since left his position Kenney said Agri Culver has been providing feed to Natural Lean Pork On the way to prison, again After his first parole in 1972, De Angelis took over a slaughter boom at North Bergen, N.J. That business did well the first year or so, De Angelis said, but his business partner failed to come through with a promised $l million in capital The shortage of capital, the Costs of trucking hogs and updating the plant to meet USDA standards, plus "dishonest" hog dealers pushed hum nearly to bankruptcy, De Angelis claimed in the interview. He said he got behind in payments to farmers and livestock dealers and told them he had two choices to go bankrupt, or to give them personal notes for about $2 million. De Angelis said he was not legally obligated to pay the company's debts, and he Could have avoided them altogether by filing for bankruptcy; but he had his sister — Angela Bracconeri, who is now as. sistant general manager and feed procurement officer of the Enfield operation — co-sign the rotes. "Now if I wasn't going to pay," he said, "would I have my only sister co-sign the notes?" Soon after, he said, one of his creditors asked hum to take over a slaughter house in Indianapolis. De Angelis mid his wife pleaded with him not t, go to Indianapolis be- cause the man had cheated hum out of millions of dollars over the yean. De Angelis said he forgave the man and moved to Indianapolis to Saturday, April 7, 1984 • ITHACA JOURNAL 9 ran the slaughter house. He said he bought hogs from the man and paid cash, but the man Complained to the U.S. attorney that De Angelis owed him money. In 1990, De Angelis said, he testi. lied before a federal grand jury. As he left the hearing, he said, he was taken into custody by the FBI and was told that his wife. Lillian, and his sister would be arrested shortly De Angelis recalled his words to FBI agent Michael Gutta: "Hold it, Mike, I don't need a lawyer. I'll plead guilty, no matter if I have p serve for life, H you'll let my wife and sister ga." Racketeering, conspiracy and fraud De Angelis was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of racketeering, one Count of con. spiracy p conceal information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 16 counts of mail fraud, accord. ing to the 1960 indictment. His wife and sister were indicted for conspiracy, but the charges were apolis Star wrote on July 22, 1980. Gail Bardach, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted De Angelis, said recently that De Angelis "ordered hogs from numer. ous suppliers throughout the eastern United States and failed to pay for them. There was a series of things he did in leading them an which would constitute mail fraud." The indictment charged that De Angelis repeatedly failed to pay firms for livestock purchases bet tween 1972 and 1879. "He allegedly delayed payments with invalid let- ters of guarantee, had and postdated checks, promises of interest payments , and promissory notes signed by himself and his sister," reported the Star on July 17, 1990. The case stemmed from his man. agement of Res Pork Inc. and Mis- ter Pork Inc., two pork processing, brokering and wholesale firms. FBI agent Gutta testified that De Angelis bilked livestock companies throughput the country of an esti- mated $7 million, according to the July.22, 1980 Star. De Angelis received an eight -Year prison term; he was paroled in February 1983 and remains on pro- bation, he said. Paroled the second time, De Angelis went back to his old trade as a butcher, working fa Pork Packers Inc of New York City The Company president is Charles DeLuca, his friend of 45 years, he said. De Lum's firm is one of 27 New York City area companies that are a mong the owners of Natural Lean Pork Co , said De Angelis DeLuca is a mem. ber of the exauuve Committee Prison: 'The happiest years' During the interview in Enfield, De Angelis talked readily about his years in prison. On his third day in Lewisburg prison, he said he was told that his father had died and he could go to the funeral — but only if he wore handcuffs. "I decided not to go." Back in his cell, he said, he was filled with remorse; his life was mmed and his father had died with a broken heart. "I decided to Commit suicide. I got out my sheet..." As he told the story, De Angelis threw, hu hands up as if throwing the and of a sheet over a bar and tying a knot in it But then, he said, "I spoke in the Lord. And He told me, 'Tin, I need you there I'm not ready for you here yet "' Since than, he said. "The Lord is my providence. He tells me what to do, where to go, how to act " The years in prison were "the happiest years of my life," said De Angelis The Ithaca Journal Saturday April 14, 1984 page 3 De Angelis says he'll offer to resign By JONATHAN ROSENBLUM and reiterated the board's confidence in - Journal Staff De Angelis. ENFIELD — Citing adverse publicity "Most of us know Mr. De Angelis. We About his criminal past, Anthony "Tino" are honorable businessmen," he said of De Angelis said this week that he will the 20 directors, most of whom are offer his resignation at the April 28 board involved in the metropolitan New York of directors meeting of Natural Lean pork industry. "We have a lot of faith in Pork Co. Inc. Mr. De Angelis," he said. De Angelis; general manager of Natu- The Enfield farm began processing ral Lean Pork's 145 -acre Enfield farm, is Pigs last month and De Angelis said the being watched by federal and state agen- operation's capacity will be more than cies, officials have said. 100,000 animals a year. His record, which includes two conic- Natural Lean Pork was formed last tions, has been the subject of several fall by a consortium of 27 meat pro - media reports, including published ac- visioners who are interested in saving counts in The Ithaca Journal, The Water- farm -to -market transportation costs, town Daily Times, the American Agri- DeLuca said. With the Enfield farm, the culturalist magazine and Odyssey Publi- Provisioners figure to save the high cost cations. of transporting hogs from the Midwest Q market, he said. Articles which detailed his previous convictions on fraud, conspiracy and racketeering charges, have hurt De Angelis' ability to manage the Natural Lean Pork farm, he said. "I'm probably going to have to move on — even if they won't accept my resignation on the 28th," De Angelis said Thursday. Director Charles DeLuca, who is presi- dent of Pork Packers Inc. of New York City, declined to comment on whether the board would allow De Angelis to quit 40 Maybell C. Griffen Maybell C. Griffen, 78, of 598 Hayts Road, died Sunday, April 15, 1984, at Tompkins Community Hos- pital. She was born in Jacksonville, a daughter of the late George and Ida Warren Chase. Mrs. Griffen retired from Cornell University where she had been em- ployed as a resident custodian. She and her husband, Walter W. Griffen, De Angelis has said he has a great deal of hope that Natural Lean Pork can become a major supplier of hogs to the metropolitan New York market. But on Thursday he said the publicity surround- ing his past is hurting the business and the provisioners who formed it. Some of the reports cited De Angelis' 1965 guilty plea for fraud and conspira- cyin connection with his role in a $150 million salad oil swindle. He served seven years in federal prison, receiving a parole in 1972. celebrated their. 60th wedding an- niversary on Jan. 30, 1984. She was a member of the Trumansburg First Baptist Church and the Women's Guild of the the church. She was a member of the Trumansburg Senior Citizens and a lifetime resident oPthe area. Besides her husband, she is sur- vived by a son and daughter-in-law, Daniel and Marge Griffen of Trumansburg; a daughter and ron- in -law, Genevieve and Victor Miller of Ithaca; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the First Baptist Church of Trumansburg with the Rev. Vernon T. Hood officiating and assisted by the Rev. Jack Lewis of Ithaca. Burial will be in Grove Cemetery. There are no calling hours. memo- rial donations may be made to the Building Fund of the First Baptist Church of Trumansburg. Rhode - Covert Funeral Home of Trumansburg is in charge of arrang- ments. Reports also mentioned his 1980 guilty plea on charges of fraud, conspiracy and racketeering. Those charges arose from his management of pork processing busi- nesses. De Angelis served three years of an eight-year sentence, receiving a parole early last year. DeLuca said he feels De Angelis "has paid society quite a bit" and should not be driven from a job because of his past. Upstate New York's chief U.S. parole officer said De Angelis' parole stipulates that he not have direct or indirect finan- cial interest in the pork industry. The officer, Frank T. Waterson, said he's investigating whether De Angelis, by managing Natural Lean Pork's farm, is violating the terms of his parole, which runs until 1988. The U.S. Parole Commission could send De Angelis back to prison if he was found to be violating parole, Waterson said. Waterson said he does not know when he will make a recommendation to the parole commission about the De Angelis case, but indicated that it might not come for several weeks. Waterson said, however, that "certain things could become academic if he did resign." r A N r F— h J Q 2 C 0 O Q PUBLIC HEARING the Town o/ Enfield will hold Q 7 m ic hearing on a i, 198x, al P in the Town = w,Y e Hall for the or Kean rrgg all persona for or against gaiinst fbre districthe asfabishnnent of a By the order of rhe Tow, Ogled April la, 198, Board. �1 Shirley HOICOMbClerk 471 Enlield Mein Road I April 19, 198, Ithaca, NY 14850 CA, Q r A N r F— to Journal statements about his past I object to your articles April 7 as being totally inaccurate on many points and taken in greatest part from newspaper accounts of past vears Particularly I object to your reference and statements L"A swindle involving a pork processing business There never was a so-called swindle. Rex Pork operated from 1972 to 1976 slaughtering and selling hogs. In those four years hog prices rose dr5matically to double 1972 prices, causing many large slaughter firms to close. including ours. The reasons were primarily the USDA having us expend over El million to operate the Miller Plant we leased in 1972, and the explosion of a pressure vessel causing the death of a fine employ- ee We had through 1976 purchased ISO million in live hogs At shutdown time we owed 214 percent of all hogs purchased till closing We offered creditors two options: Bankruptcy or to accept my personal notes on 21': percent owed They accepted the notes From 1976 to 1980 1 paid $600,000 on the notes (my sister co- signed). There remains unpaid less than 2 percent today that I hope in my lifetime f can repay, despite a recorded $7 million in overcharging by three of the 16 livestock shippers — short weight, arthritic hogs, wrong sizes, etc. When charged by the government on sole testimony of the largest of the three dishonest shippers with not intending to pay for the hogs, I stated to the FBI that such a charge was preposterous and ridiculous in light of my above actions. The next day they arrested my wife and sis- ter Their crime, "conspiracy" — thev endorsed the notes I gave the Iivestockmen. Without having an at- torney represent me I pled guilty in exchange for the release of my wife and sister. I have great admiration for the FBI agents who arrested me They in time saw the light and we are today good friends. 2."Plans to buy hogs from local farmers:" The only pigs we would buy from farmers would he derived from choice selected gilts we would give to them to breed and farrow All other pigs we buy from livestock centers through USDA Packer - Stockyard bonded agents, who pay for the pigs at purchase time. 3 "After admitting in 1980 he proc- essed and sold thousands of pigs without paying farmers for them" We never purchased a single pig from farmers from 1972 to 1983 Your statement is totally wrong, not factual, incorrect and objected to. f refer you to my reply in answering your "swindle" statement as the Ll; ITERS TO THE JOURNAL 10 ITHACA JOURNAL 10 ITHACA JOURNAL MondaY, AP" 16, 1984 lr same reply to the above newspaper sensationalism The Lord is the final judge of all acts that are carried out, good or bad in one's lifetime I know well where I am going The Lord is my providence, I have no fear. I feel sorry for the dishonest main govern- ment witness against me, who after offering incredulous testimony to cover his own wrongdoing suffered a heart attack and died. I pray for him, then and now and have asked the good Lord to forgive him and to forgive several persons in this area comprised of fine, wonderful people who do not wish to have me or the operations of my employers located here I will in all probabilities move on as I do not wish to cause my em- ployers any problems. They all know me for 30 years, know every facet of my life. They have confidence in me, yet my remaining here causes their efforts to be incorrectly addressed,due to my presence. Hence I have over their objections offered my resignation to be acted upon at their April 28 directors' meeting. To Helen Mundell, your very gracious reporter, God bless her. A credit to your fine paper. Anthony De Angelis Enfield Tuesday, April 17, 1984 , Journal coverage of DeAngelis & pig farm was excessive I found the coverage of Anthony De Angelis and Natural Lean Pork in the April 7 edition of The Ithaca Journal to be at the very best in extreme bad taste. I do not know this man nor anything about his history, but to expose anyone not currently under suspicion of a crime to that amount of public attention about his criminal past with direct reference to his current em- ployment could well be an infringe- ment of his civil rights. I measured roughly one and one- third pages out of live pages of news space Ideducting ads and features) in the first section of the paper devoted to De Angelis and Natural Lean Pork. While area farmers and other residents certainly have the right and perhaps the need to be informed of the man's history, a few column inches would have sufficed — not 20 percent, or more, of the available news space in a Saturday edition That is excessive, and ex- tremely prejudicial to Dg Angelis' future in our area or anywhere else, not to mention the damage it nray have done to Natural Lean Pork's prospects. A person released from prison is supposed to have "paid his debt to society" and while he should be watched closely, as various gov- ernmental officials are reportedly watching De Angelis, he auto- matically regains his right to be assumed innocent until proven guil- ty However. I found the entire tone of the three related articles to be that "He was a crook before, so he's probably a crook now ' Anthony De Angelis. Natural Lean Pork and the residents of Tompkins Countv and the surrounding area all deserve better than this from the Ithaca Journal and the Gannett chain. At the very least, a prommen- tiv published apology to all of the above is in order Trumansburg Jennifer Owlett Monday, April 30, 1984 - ITHACA JOURNAL 9 A A • . • _ 0_ - • ■ SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION POLLING PLACES I .Ntav 1. 1984 Polls open: 12:00 noon -9:00 p.m. Be sure to know your polling place for the school election School Electionflescri tion If you vote in the general In the school election DistrictNumber p election district here: you vote here: 8 All that portion of the Town of Enfield. New Town of Enfield - Dist I - New Enfield School York. within said CAY School District Town Hall. Enfield Center Corner of Rts. 327 & 79 Town of Enfield - Dist. 2 - New Ithaca. New York Town Hall Monday, April 30, 1984 - ITHACA JOURNAL 3 De Angelis is still in business - By JONATHAN ROSENBLUM Journal Staff Anthony De Angelis is still general manager of Enfield's Natural Lean Pork farm. That's the word from a top member of the pork company's board of directors, which on Saturday rejected De Angelis' offer to quit by a unanimous vote. Director Louis De Angelis, who said he is no relation to Anthony De Angelis, reported that the general manager offered to resign because of adverse publicity he has attracted to the operation. Several published accounts this spring have detailed Anthony De Angelis' previous convictions for fraud, racketeering and conspiracy in two separate cases. He has served 10 years in federal prison since 1965 as a result of his role in salad ml and pork -processing swindles. But meeting Saturday at the Enfield farm, about 25 directors said they "back him 100 percent," Louis De Angelis said. "He's doing a wonderful job. . We believe he wouldn't hurt any one of us," he said. Louis De Angelis said business at the 145 -acre farm was going well considering the "extreme cold" weather across the country that killed off and injured many pigs. Monday, April 30, 1984 - ITHACA JOURNAL 5, 8 ITHACA JOURNAL - Monday, April 30, 1984 Pearle Nivison Pearle Nivison, 93, of 429 Iradell Road, died Saturday, April 28, 1984, at Tompkins Community Hospital. She was born Aug. 18, 1890 in Ithaca, a daughter of Will and Hattie Thompson Nivison. Miss Nivison was a 1917 graduate of Cortland Normal School. She was a retired teacher. She was a mem- ber of the Ithaca Area Retired Teachers, a member of the Com- munity Methodist Church in Jack- sonville, a member of the Ulysses Grange and the Ulysses Historical Society, and a member of the Trumansburg Senior Citizens. She is survived by a sister, Sarah P. Nivison of Ithaca and several cousins. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Ness Funeral Home in Trumansburg with the Rev. Michael Cremean officiating. Burial will be in Hayt's Cemetery. Friends may call from 7 to 9 tonight at the funeral home. Bell -ringing for peace on Mother's Day In an effort to join people together throughout the world and bring about a unified declaration of peace, we plan to gather together on Mother's Day to enact the peace bell treaty and celebrate the nurturing spirit and mother to us all, our Earth. Throughout the world, in every time zone between noon and 1 p.m., children and young people will lead us in the ringing of symbolic peace bells. This will be a statement from children and people of the world to governments everywhere that we want to live in peace with all people Thursday, May 3, 1984 i ITHACA JOURNAL S DEATHS Ellsworth Schaber Military rites for Ellsworth (Shorty) Schaber, 87, of 203 First St., who died Sunday, Feb. 15, 1984, at Tompkins Community Hospital, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Presbyterian Cemetery in Enfield by the V F.W. Post #961 at grave- side. E.C. Wagner Funeral Home of Ithaca is in charge of arrangements. and join our energies together. Al- ready there are festivities and cele- brations for peace planned in 18 different time zones throughout the world. Here in Ithaca, we will be gather- ing by the southwest corner of De- witt Park at 11:45 to have a short children's peace march to the Com- mons. Beginning at noon we will leave Dewitt Park and walk over to the Central Pavilion on the Com- mons, ringing bells, singing, and doing other activities to celebrate peace. We wish to express our love for the Earth and our concern with the continued escalation of the nuclear arms race. It is important that our children lead us and take an active part in promoting peace so that we can ensure a safe, nuclear free future for them and their children. Please join with us for this wonder- ful event on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13. Scott McCown Enfield Wednesday, June 20, 1984 • ITHACA JOURNAL Neighbors:;. complain of strong BY HELEN MUNDELL `"' "' Kafhy'Delporo, visited the hog farm recently, An - Journal StaN dersson said. Natural Lean Pork Co. Inc. is phasing out its hog- According to Burgess' written report, on file at the growing operation in Enfield amid complaints from health department, De Angelis told the investigators neighbors about odors from the farm that the company shipped 10,000 adult hogs to the farm John Andersson, county environmental health direc- last winter and thousands of them died of pneumonia. The company doesn't plan to ship any more hogs to the tor, said Anthony " Tmo" De Angelis, manager of the ' farm, the report said hog farm on Podunk Road, told him that the company has only 3,000 hogs on the farm now Six hundred will The company is re-evaluating what ft wants to do be shipped this week, and the rest will be gone in five with the farm has a plan to start a breeder operation, with 5,000 piglets sows, to produce 40.000 piglets weeks, Andersson said DeAngelis told him twice a year The piglets would be kept at the farm for De Angelis refused to comment. six weeks, then sent to local farmers to raise to Andersson said the health department has had slaughter size, the report said. numerous telephone complaints from people who live Burgess wrote that the manure from the present in the Enfield area about strong odors from the pig operation goes into two lagoons on the 150 -acre farm. farm. One covers about an acre and the other about half an As a result, a health department employee, Carl acre. Plumbing for an aeration system has been Burgess, and two state Department of Environmental installed in the larger lagoon, and four or five aerators Conservation (DEC) employees, Steve Lackey and are on the site but not hooked pp yet. Electricity has odors from Enfield pig farm not been brought to the site. Eric Feiock, who farms land on Tucker Road owned by Jean Sloan, showed the investigators where seepage, apparently from the hog farm, was running onto Sloan's land according to the report. "The odor behind the ponds was extremely obnox- ious.(nauseating)," Burgess wrote after a May 29 visit to the farm He also said that he took a sample of Sloan's well water, after she complained that at times it was milky. It, had not been milky before the hog farm began operating last winter, she told investigators. Tests showed the water was contaminated, and she was told to boil the water and to disinfect the well. According to Burgess' report, the DEC reached the conclusion, after the visit, that the pig farm cannot be considered an industrial operation, and farms are not regulated by the DEC. However, the DEC plans to send the pig farm management a letter recommend- ing that the aerators be hooked up immediately to the Farm Continued from Page 3 He said the health department has had complaints about odors from half a mile away. Ralph Lener of 323 Halseyville Road said he lives about a mile directly east from the farm build- ings but closer than that to the lagoons The smell. he said, "is like some- one vomited all over you, a really heavy. thick, cloying odor when it gets going good It chases you right out of the yard." particularly when the weather is hot The smell isn't constant, Lener larger lagoon, to help control odors. Andersson said the health department has told Natural Lean Pork that before it starts another operation, "We want to review their waste handling plan We also want to see the lagoons cleaned out, which Mr. De Angelis said will be done in the next several weeks, and the waste will be spread on their own land." Natural Lean Pork, owned by a group of New York City -area businessmen, told the health department it had hired Martin Engineering Co. of Canada to design a waste handling system, at an estimated cost of $2 to $4 million. Andersson said that De Angelis and the general foreman, Jerold Griffin, claim that the odors are from the hog pens, not the lagoons. "They say they have big fans in the pens to cool the animals off," Anderson said "I'm not sure whether that's true or not. It's possible." Turn to FARM, Page 4 said. "It'll come in strong for an hour or two: then a puff of wind will come along and our neighbors will get it." Carol Srnka of Iradell Road, who lives a mile and a half from the farm. said the odor from the hog farm "smells like a dead rat when the wind is blowing in the right direction on hot, humid days." Neighbors across Podunk Road -from the hog farm, Sivi and Kenneth Stoughton, said the odor from the hogs doesn't bother them. "We're on the right side of the road," Kenneth Stoughton said. "The smell goes the other way." His wife said, "We smell it a little, but it doesn't bother us. A retired farmer, Kenneth Stoughton said he's happy to have the farm there because it gives work "to a lot of people who wouldn't have a job." He said he can see both sides of the controversy over the smell. "It wouldn't be pleasant" to live down- wind from the hog farm, he said, "But on the other hand, we've got to have bacon I think there are people who live in the country who should live in the city. We're farmers, and we realize you're going to get an odor."