No Restitution from Peanut Corp. Executives for Salmonella Outbreak

A Georgia federal court has reportedly ruled that four former executives of Peanut Corp. will not be forced to pay restitution to the victims of a Salmonella outbreak linked to nine deaths and 714 illnesses. The executives—Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell, Samuel Lightsey and Daniel Kilgore—are each serving federal prison terms for knowingly shipping Salmonella-tainted peanut butter and faking related lab-test results. The court reportedly found that the loss estimates provided by the prosecutors were invalid because they included unrecoverable costs, including attorney’s fees. Further, the victims received more than $12 million from Peanut Corp.’s insurer, and the punitive factor of restitution would be reduced because requiring payment “would ultimately be for naught or close-to-naught,” as the executives received long prison sentences. See Associated Press, April 7, 2016.

Issue 599