Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has renewed his quest to increase the sentences prosecutors can seek to impose on those who knowingly sell tainted food products. He has reintroduced the Food Safety Accountability Act (S. 216) and promises to schedule hearings in the near future before the Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. While the proposal passed unanimously out of that committee in September 2010, Leahy was unable to attach it to the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, approved during the lame duck session at the close of the year. With five Democratic co-sponsors, the bill would allow prison sentences up to 10 years for the most egregious food safety violators. Referring to the nationwide Salmonella outbreak and recall involving an Iowa egg producer with a history of violations, Leahy said when he introduced the bill, “It is clear that fines are not enough to protect the public and effectively…
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) have reportedly filed amicus briefs with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, supporting the efforts of counsel for Sholom Rubashkin to overturn his conviction and sentence for financial fraud at his Iowa meat processing facility. The kosher plant was raided in 2008, 389 undocumented workers were arrested, and Rubashkin was initially charged with violating immigration laws. These charges were ultimately dropped, and a jury acquitted him of hiring underage workers. Prosecutors then aggressively pursued charges that he falsified bank records to inflate sales and diverted customer payments for personal use, and he was found guilty on 86 counts in November 2009. The court sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years in prison, a term longer than recommended by prosecutors. While the ACLU and NACDL reportedly focus their briefs on accusations that the sentencing court improperly cooperated with prosecutors…
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) recently published the results of a seven-month foray into the Atlantic bluefin tuna trade, claiming that widespread corruption at all levels has decimated the species. Titled Looting the Seas, the exposé reflects the efforts of 12 journalists who followed the bluefin supply chain “from major fishing fleets and tuna ranches in the Mediterranean and North Africa, through ministry offices, to some of the world’s largest buyers.” Released before a November meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the report relies on interviews, court documents, regulatory reports, corporate records, and “an internal database used by regulators to track the trade.” According to its findings, the supply chain “at every step was riddled with fraud, negligence, and criminal misconduct.” The report specifically alleges that (i) “Fishermen blatantly violated official quotas and engaged in an array of illegal practices”; (ii) “National…
Lawyers for Sholom Rubashkin, who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for financial fraud discovered in connection with a kosher meatpacking plant in the aftermath of a 2008 raid to find illegal immigrants, have alleged trial-court improprieties in their request for a new trial. U.S. v. Rubashkin, No. 08-1324 (N.D. Iowa, filed August 5, 2010). According to Rubashkin’s motion, the federal district court occupied temporary space near the plant so that the 300-plus undocumented workers arrested in the raid could be processed the following day. This raised the issue of Judge Linda Reade’s prior involvement with prosecutors. “Indeed, Chief District Judge Linda Reade stated in September 2008 in a written opinion that she engaged in purportedly limited ‘logistical cooperation’ with law-enforcement authorities in order to provide attorneys and interpreters for the arrested aliens and to conduct their trials in Waterloo.” To the contrary, Rubashkin claims, eight months after…
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has introduced legislation that would give federal prosecutors the authority to seek prison sentences up to 10 years for those who “knowingly place contaminated food products into the nation’s food supply.” Explaining his reason for introducing the Food Safety Enhancement Act (S.3669), the senator referred to the Salmonella contamination of peanut products in 2008 involving the Peanut Corp. of America; the outbreak purportedly “left nine people dead and sickened hundreds more.” According to a press statement, Leahy said, “The bill I introduce today would increase sentences for people who put profits above safety by knowingly contaminating the food supply. It makes such offenses felony violations and significantly increases the chances that those who commit them will face jail time, rather than a slap on the wrist, for their criminal conduct.” See Office of Senator Leahy Press Release, July 29, 2010.
The former manager of an Iowa-based kosher meatpacking plant that was raided by immigration authorities in 2008 has reportedly been sentenced to 27 years for financial fraud and ordered to pay $27 million in restitution. While the initial case against Sholom Rubashkin involved the hiring of hundreds of illegal immigrant workers, prosecutors apparently changed their focus to his alleged mishandling of loans that led to bank losses of $26 million. The presiding federal judge reportedly released a 52-page memorandum in advance of the sentencing hearing to explain her decision. The sentence, two years longer than requested by prosecutors, has generated controversy given the relatively lighter sentences meted out to corporate officials responsible for greater frauds in recent years. Six former U.S. attorneys general submitted a letter to the judge supporting a lighter prison term. Rubashkin’s lawyers have indicated that they will appeal the sentence. See The New York Times, June…
Some two years after a raid on a Postville, Iowa, kosher slaughterhouse for the employment of hundreds of illegal immigrants, charges of child-labor law violations are apparently about to be tried in state court against former executive Sholom Rubashkin. Prosecutors reportedly dropped many related charges against other individuals on the eve of trial. Rubashkin, who was also charged with bank, mail and wire fraud and violations of the Packers & Stockyards Act, appeared at a federal court sentencing hearing in late April 2010, facing a potential life sentence in prison. According to news sources, the court will hand down a sentencing order sometime in May; a number of former U.S. attorneys general and U.S. attorneys submitted a letter to the court to express concern about the imposition of a life sentence on a first-time, non-violent offender. See National Law Journal and The Blog of Legal Times, April 26, 2010; Feedstuffs.com,…
Taking aim at companies that make (i) nutrient content claims on foods and beverages intended for children younger than age 2, (ii) 0 gram trans fat claims on products high in saturated fats, and (iii) health-related claims, such as the treatment or mitigation of disease, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters to 17 companies and an open letter to industry indicating that it will crack down on false or misleading labeling and marketing claims. Among the targeted companies are Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Inc. (ice cream—no trans fat), Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (baby food—nutrient claims for children younger than age 2), Nestle (Juicy Juice products—implied 100 percent juice for juice blends with added flavors), Pompeian, Inc. (olive oil—treat, prevent and cure diseases), Redco Foods (green tea—antioxidants effective in the prevention of cardiovascular disease), and Diamond Food, Inc. (shelled walnuts—omega-3 claims about treating, preventing or curing diseases). Some of the…
The U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, California, has announced that a former purchasing manager for Safeway Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud “in connection with an ongoing federal investigation into various illicit activities in the tomato processing industry.” According to the announcement, Michael Chavez has admitted that “while working at Safeway, he received personal bribery payments” from a sales broker and director of SK Foods L.P. to steer contracts for processed tomato products to that company rather than industry competitors. Purchasing managers at other major food companies have also pleaded guilty to receiving illicit payments from the SK Foods broker. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner further noted that the Justice Department’s investigation into SK Foods “has uncovered wide-ranging fraud with respect to the quality of tomato product that was produced, purchased and sold by the company.” Apparently, “SK Foods regularly shipped products which, while not a health…
According to a press report, three people from the Shaanxi Jinqiao Dairy Co. have been arrested and charged with producing and selling toxic food. They are apparently accused of selling more than five tons of milk powder laced with melamine to a food additive firm, which discovered the contamination. The tainted product was apparently recovered before reaching the marketplace. The detentions come a little more than a year after a nationwide scandal involving contaminated milk powder killed six children and sickened more than 300,000. The first civil trial to consider claims by parents of an injured child began in November 2009, but a second hearing in the matter has reportedly been delayed after the defendants demanded additional investigation into the cause of the child’s illness. See FoodNavigatorUSA.com, December 11, 2009.
