Meat Distributor Required To Pay $120,500 Civil Penalty For Violating Food Safety Consent Decree

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA-FSIS")'s Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit, William Griffin, announced today that U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos has imposed civil penalties on defendants FIRST GOLD COAST CORPORATION d/b/a GOLD COAST TRADING COMPANY ("First Gold"), KWABENA ASAMOAH ADJEI, CHRISTOPHER AHENKORA, and MICHAEL AHENKORA for violating a previously entered judicial consent decree requiring the defendants to comply with food safety laws at their meat and poultry business. The order imposes a $120,500 civil penalty on the defendants for continuing to sell uninspected and misbranded poultry products and for failing to complete mandatory food safety training.

"This Office has no tolerance for parties who continue in their unlawful ways after they commit to come into compliance," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "This conduct is all the worse where, as here, it endangers the safety of the food that families put on their tables. The imposed financial penalty should serve as notice to all parties that they must live up to their legal commitments and comply with the law."

"As the USDA agency responsible for ensuring that America's meat, poultry, and egg products remain the safest in the world, FSIS is committed to taking swift action to protect consumers and carry out our public health mission," said FSIS Assistant Administrator for the Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit William Griffin. "The work of our inspection personnel and investigators to enforce Federal regulations, along with our partnerships with state and local governments, will continue to ensure the safety of our food supply."

The Federal Meat Inspection Act ("FMIA") and Poultry Products Inspection Act ("PPIA") protect public health by ensuring the nation's commercial supply of meat and poultry is safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled and packaged. These requirements allow consumers to have confidence in the safety of their meat and poultry products and permit public health officials to trace problems to their source.

This Office first sued First Gold and its then-owner, Daniel Ahenkora, in October 2015, alleging that they had violated the FMIA and the PPIA by selling uninspected and misbranded meat and poultry products. The Court promptly entered a consent decree enjoining First Gold, Daniel Ahenkora, and affiliated parties from further violations. In December 2024, First Gold and three of Daniel Ahenkora's sons-KWABENA ASAMOAH ADJEI, CHRISTOPHER AHENKORA, and MICHAEL AHENKORA, who had taken over the business around May 2023-signed an amended consent decree, which was approved by the Court on December 3, 2024. Among other things, the amended consent decree prohibited the defendants from selling, offering for sale, or receiving in commerce any uninspected or misbranded meat or poultry and required them to complete mandatory training on the FMIA and PPIA.

The defendants, however, proceeded to violate the amended consent decree. Specifically, on or about June 26, 2025, First Gold sold approximately 120 pounds of uninspected, misbranded poultry products-namely, 30 pounds of smoked turkey drums, 30 pounds of smoked turkey wings, 30 pounds of fresh turkey wings, and 30 pounds of fresh turkey drums-to a New Jersey retailer. First Gold used a bandsaw in the store to slice the turkey products without the benefit of federal inspection and then misbranded the products by repackaging them into the original manufacturer boxes that bore the marks of federal inspection, in violation of the amended consent decree. The defendants also failed to complete the training required by the amended consent decree.

The Court's June 26, 2026, order requires the defendants to pay a total civil penalty of $120,500-comprising $60,000 for the sale of 120 pounds of misbranded, uninspected turkey products and $60,500 for the defendants' failure to complete the amended consent decree's training requirements. The order also requires the defendants to present a plan for coming into compliance with the amended consent decree's training requirements.

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Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the USDA.

This case is being handled by the Environmental Protection Unit of the Office's Civil Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Osmond is in charge of the case.