Meat company who peddled bad food to military families used cash for drug habit

A military family took a traveling meat salesman at his word and ended up with $600 of inedible frozen meat.

If you’ve lived on or near a military base, this isn’t the first time you’ve probably heard of the “meat man” who travels the neighborhood, peddling large boxes of meat and purportedly discounted prices.

The Hubbards, a military family living in Ramona, instantly regretted buying the meat and seafood from Dalton’s Meat, paying for a freezer full of beef, chicken, pork and seafood, which turned out to be unfit to eat.

Jim and Tanya Hubbard were initially skeptical when they were pitched by the salesman, but purchased because the deal seemed too good to pass up. “All of that normally cost $1,200,” Tanya said. “But he said he’d give us this great deal, at 600 bucks, total.”

Meat salesman, Dalton Nichol said they could write a check for the additional $200 owed since they only $400 cash on them. Nichol thanked the Hubbards for their military service and agreed not to cash the check for at least 10 days, as Tanya was waiting for her paycheck from the Army Reserves. Nichols added, “You’re serving our country; I’m here to serve you.”

The family later learned the meat purchased was inedible and to add insult to injury, Nichol did not hold their check as he’d promised. Instead, he cashed it just hours after closing the sale.

“At that point, I think we had decided you know, we’re going to have to make good on his money back guarantee… we would call, and call, and call, and he wouldn’t answer the calls,” says Jim Hubbard.

The check bounced four times, “Yeah, four times, with $30 fees, each time,” says Tanya.

The Hubbards took their complaints to the Better Business Bureau and considered suing Dalton Nichol in small claims court, but couldn’t find him to serve him the legal paperwork, according to NBC SanDiego7.

In a news interview, Nichol admitted that “when [the Hubbards] tried to contact me, I had relapsed. I’m an addict”, explaining that he’s been addicted to crack-cocaine for 30 years.

More research by the news station revealed that he has a long rap sheet dating back to 1982, including “felony and misdemeanor convictions for burglary, grand theft, reckless driving, possession of drug paraphernalia and numerous petty thefts with priors.”

Nichols said his longtime career in door-to-door sales is over, saying “The meat business is for me is fast money, and has lead me to relapse too many times. It’s just not for me,” he added.

And here’s where this story covered last year gets interesting, Dalton was reported as being seen on 29 Palms this week — peddling meat. Buyer’s beware and remember that soliciting on base is not allowed. We highly suggest you call PMO if you see him or others soliciting services on base.

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