GEORGIA
A federal judge sentenced two former officials of Peanut Corporation of America who shipped salmonella-positive peanuts that resulted in a nationwide outbreak, U.S. Department officials said today.
Last week, the Peanut Corporation’s president, Steward Parnell, received 28 years in prison, the largest criminal sentence ever given in a food safety case, officials said.
The tainted food led to a salmonella outbreak in 2009 with more than 700 reported cases of salmonella poisoning in 46 states.
“Today’s sentences are a just result,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
Adding, “They reflect the roles that the defendants played in these terrible acts, their acceptance of responsibility for those roles, and their willingness to assist the government, albeit after the fact, in ensuring that all of those who engaged in criminal activity were held accountable. The Department of Justice will continue to work aggressively with its partners to ensure that the American people are protected from food that is adulterated or misbranded.”
U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands sentenced Samuel Lightsey, 50, a former operations manager at Peanut Corporation to three years in prison.
The judge sentenced Daniel Kilgore, 46, also a former operations manager at the Blakely, Georgia plant to serve six years in prison, officials said.
The two were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud their customers by shipping salmonella-positive peanut products before the results of microbiological testing were received and falsifying microbiological test results, according to federal officials.
Both Lightsey and Kilgore pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and the sale of misbranded and adulterated food.
Additionally,Lightsey and Kilgore testified last year against Stewart Parnell, 61, of Lynchburg, Virginia, the former owner and president of the Peanut Corporation, according to authorities.
Lightsey and Kilgore also testified against Michael Parnell, 56, of Midlothian, Virginia, Stewart Parnell’s brother, who worked at P.P. Sales and was a food broker who worked on behalf of the Peanut Corporation; and Mary Wilkerson, 41, of Edison, Georgia, who held various positions at the corporation’s Blakely plant, including receptionist, office manager and quality assurance manager.
Lightsey was on the witness stand during nine trial days, and Kilgore testified as a witness during five trial days, federal officials said.
The evidence at trial, which resulted in the convictions of Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson, indicated that tainted food led to a salmonella outbreak in 2009 with more than 700 reported cases of salmonella poisoning in 46 states, officials said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on epidemiological projections, that number translates to more than 22,000 total cases, including nine deaths.
During the sentencing phase of the case, officials said the court found that the evidence presented at trial linked the Peanut Corporation’s contaminated peanut products to the victims’ illnesses.
The government presented evidence at trial to establish that Stewart Parnell and Michael Parnell, with Lightsey and Kilgore, participated in several schemes by which they defrauded PCA customers and jeopardized the quality and purity of their peanut products.
Specifically, the government presented evidence that the defendants misled customers about the presence of salmonella in their products, according to authorities.
For example, the Parnells, Lightsey and Kilgore fabricated certificates of analysis that accompanied various shipments of peanut products.
Certificates of Analysis are documents that summarize laboratory results, including test results concerning the presence or absence of pathogens in food.
According to the evidence, on several occasions, the Parnells, Lightsey and Kilgore participated in a scheme to fabricate Certificates of Analysis that stated that the food at issue was free of pathogens when in fact there had been no testing of the food or tests had revealed the presence of pathogens.
The government also presented evidence that demonstrated that when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials visited the Peanut Corporation’s Blakely plant to investigate the outbreak, Stewart Parnell, Lightsey and Wilkerson gave untrue or misleading answers to questions posed by those officials.
“By making sure that the individuals involved in the corporate fraud at PCA were held accountable, I am confident that the message to other executives is clear,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore of Georgia. “Because we all know that it is people who make decisions about what goes on behind the corporate curtain, we’ll be looking to hold those individuals personally accountable when they steer their businesses down the path of fraud. Mr. Kilgore and Mr. Lightsey acknowledged their wrongdoing, and today their sentences reflect not only their acceptance of that responsibility, but also the requirement of accountability.”
On Sept. 21, Judge Sands sentenced Stewart Parnell to 28 years in prison. The judge sentenced Michael Parnell to 20 years, and Mary Wilkerson to five years, according to authorities.