As part of the fallout from the Rancho Feeding Corp. fiasco, noted California natural meat producer Bill Niman had to discard most of the 100,000 pounds of grass-fed beef that had been blocked from the market amid the company’s recall and criminal investigation, according to local media reports.

The federal government on Tuesday unsealed a grand jury’s criminal indictments on the now-defunct Petaluma, Calif.-based packer. Three people including co-owner Jesse Amaral were indicted on 11 felony counts stemming from the sale of meat from cattle that had been condemned by USDA inspectors because they were cancerous.

Niman, one of many regional producers to have been caught up in Rancho’s 9-million-pound recall, had stored impounded meat worth some $400,000 and hoped federal probes would support his ability to sell it. He’d been allowed to give some of the product to family and friends, but had to send 60,000 pounds of meat to renderer earlier this month because storage costs got too steep.

Niman founded Niman Ranch but cut ties with that company in 2007