As anticipated, Quality Egg LLC and its former owners, Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter, have entered guilty pleas to charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Additional information about the plea agreement appears in Issue 524 of this Update. They admitted that the company’s shell eggs, shipped to buyers in states throughout the country, contained Salmonella in 2010. As part of the plea agreement, the company reportedly agreed to pay a $6.8 million fine. The DeCosters, who will remain free on bail pending sentencing, face a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison or five years’ probation. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. See USA Today, June 3, 2014. Issue 525
Tag Archives criminal
Stewart Parnell, former president of the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), linked to a 2008-2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak that allegedly killed nine who consumed products made with the company’s tainted peanut paste and injured some 700 others, has filed a motion asking the court to exclude “all evidence related to any alleged illness or death” during his criminal trial. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr 12 (M.D. Ga., motion filed May 20, 2014). Observing that the government’s pleaded harm “consists of monetary harm to the customers and individuals named” and that the entire case is “premised on the alleged wrongful conduct of obtaining money by false pretenses,” Parnell argues that victim-impact evidence is irrelevant and would be highly prejudicial. In this regard, he states, “[T]he only purpose for introducing evidence of salmonella-related illness and death is to inflame the jury in an effort to suggest a decision on an improper basis.”…
Federal prosecutors have reportedly filed criminal charges against Iowa-based Quality Egg LLC and two former company executives—Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter—over a 2010 Salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands across the country and resulted in the recall of some 550 million eggs. United States v. Quality Egg, LLC, No. 14-cr-3024 (N.D. Iowa, filed May 21, 2014). The charging document, which brings two felony counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce against the company and related misdemeanor charges against the DeCosters, alleges that the company sold tainted eggs from early 2010 until the August recall. According to news sources, the DeCosters are expected to enter guilty pleas on June 3, 2014, as part of a plea agreement that ends the four-year investigation. The charging document alleges that the company sold products with labels making “the eggs appear to be not as old as they actually were” from 2006 to 2010,…
Samuel Lightsey, who formerly managed the Peanut Corp. of America, which was implicated in a 2008-2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak, has entered a guilty plea to six of 76 criminal charges, including conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and other counts related to the distribution of adulterated or misbranded food. U.S. v. Lightsey, No. 13-CR-12 (M.D. Ga., Albany Div., plea entered May 7, 2014). Facing a potential sentence of six years in prison, Lightsey has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. The outbreak sickened more than 700 who consumed products containing tainted peanut paste, and at least nine died. According to the plea agreement, in September 2008, Lightsey and others shipped a lot of peanut paste from the company’s Blakely, Georgia, facility “without ever having submitted a sample from said lot to a laboratory for microbiological testing.” This food was misbranded because it was accompanied by a document containing…
A federal court in Georgia has denied a motion to sever the criminal charges filed against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, linked to a 2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak, from charges filed against other company employees. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered April 24, 2014). Information about a hearing conducted to assess the reliability of the defendant’s proffered expert—retained to testify about Stewart Parnell’s purported Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder— appears in Issue 517 of this Update. The court has also continued an April 28 status conference in light of a previous ruling rescheduling the trial. Issue 521
A federal court in Georgia presiding over a criminal action against the owner and employees of the now-defunct Peanut Corp. of America, purportedly involved in a 2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak, conducted a hearing on March 13, 2014, to determine whether the expert testimony proffered as to owner Stewart Parnell’s ability to form the intent to commit the alleged crimes is admissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993). According to defense expert Joseph Conley, a clinical psychologist, Parnell has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) condition. Defense counsel claims that Conley’s testimony will show that Parnell did not commit the alleged crimes because he did not factually acquire the knowledge necessary to form an intent about the actions the government has alleged. Conley would testify that Parnell’s ADHD is so severe that he likely never read, nor understood the significance of, many of the emails on…
Eric and Ryan Jensen, who owned the cantaloupe farm linked to a deadly 2011 Listeria outbreak, have reportedly urged a court, following their pleas to charges related to the incident, not to sentence them to prison. Additional details about the plea and charges appear in Issue 500 of this Update. They apparently claim that they do not need correctional treatment and have done everything possible to make the victims whole, including declaring bankruptcy to make a pool of money available to compensate them. The brothers pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor charges that each carry potential sanctions of one year in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, as well as one year of supervised release. A sentencing hearing will be held in late January 2014. According to Eric Jensen’s brief, “this case has already prompted a new awareness of food safety law and the strict liability imposed on producers and food…
Advocacy organizations including the Center for Food Safety and Food & Water Watch have filed an amicus brief to support an animal rights organization coalition’s challenge to a Utah law that criminalizes undercover investigations of meat and poultry processing facilities. Animal Legal Def. Fund v. Herbert, No. 13-0679 (D. Utah, brief filed December 17, 2013). Contending that the government has failed to prevent illegal animal-handling practices that ultimately threaten consumer safety and that consumers have the right to know how food is produced, the brief calls for the court to decide the challenge to Utah’s “ag-gag” law, Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-112, on the merits. Among other matters, amici refer to the undercover investigation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States in 2007 of a Hallmark/Westland facility and its conclusion in a U.S. Department of Agriculture ground-beef recall over concerns that the meat “did not receive complete and proper inspection…
A federal court in Georgia has called for the prosecutors and defendants in a criminal action arising from the 2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to the peanut products made by the Blakely, Georgia, Peanut Corp. of America to propose a scheduling order and trial dates between July 7, 2014, and August 2014. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered December 11, 2013). The case had been set for trial in February. The court also agreed to review in camera affidavits and other supporting documents “to demonstrate why [the defendants’] defenses are antagonistic and mutually exclusive.” Former Peanut Corp. owner Stewart Parnell has requested that the court sever the proceedings which have been brought jointly against him and several company employees. The court further reserved ruling on pending discovery motions and the government’s motion for a competency hearing as to Stewart Parnell. Issue 507
According to court records, prosecutors have filed a motion for psychiatric examination as to Stewart Parnell, who is under criminal indictment for actions relating to the 2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to the peanut products made by the Blakely, Georgia, Peanut Corp. of America plant that Parnell owned. United States v. Parnell, No. 12-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., motion filed December 4, 2013). Information about the criminal charges appears in Issue 472 of this Update. Parnell has filed a motion to sever defendant and counts. The criminal proceedings against him are currently joined to charges against other company employees.
