WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores LLC pleaded guilty on Monday to storing food, drugs and cosmetics in unsanitary conditions in a rodent-infested Arkansas warehouse and has agreed to pay $41.675 million, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Family Dollar Stores, a subsidiary of Dollar Tree Inc. , pleaded guilty to a single count of causing FDA-regulated products to become adulterated in insanitary conditions, the Justice Department said.

"When consumers go to the store, they have the right to expect that the food and drugs on the shelves have been kept in clean, uncontaminated conditions," Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement announcing the plea deal.

According to the plea agreement, Family Dollar received reports in August 2020 of mouse and pest issues at its West Memphis, Arkansas, distribution center.

The company continued to ship FDA-regulated products from the warehouse until January 2022, when an FDA inspection revealed live rodents, dead and decaying rodents, rodent feces, urine, and odors, and evidence of gnawing and nesting throughout the facility, the plea agreement said.

"Having reached full resolution with the DOJ, we are continuing to move forward on our business transformation, safety procedures and compliance initiatives," Dollar Tree Chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Beech and Dan Whitcomb; writing by Paul Grant)