Peanut company CEO sentenced to 28 years for salmonella outbreak
Source: Reuters
The former owner of Peanut Corporation of America was sentenced in federal court on Monday to 28 years in prison for his role in a salmonella outbreak that was linked to nine deaths.
In a rare case of criminal prosecution linked to food contamination, Stewart Parnell, the former owner of Peanut Corporation of America, and his brother, Michael Parnell, who was a food broker on behalf of the company, were convicted on federal conspiracy charges in September 2014 for knowingly shipping salmonella-tainted peanuts to customers.
Contamination at the company's plant in Blakely, Georgia, led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history and forced the company into liquidation.
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by David Adams and Sandra Maler)
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/21/us-usa-georgia-salmonella-idUSKCN0RL24H20150921
US | Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:57pm EDT
ALBANY, GA. | BY RICH MCKAY
Short article. No more at link.
4139
(1,893 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)There is a special place in Hell for Stewart Parnell.
It takes patience to see these things through to their conclusion, and the courts don't operate on the same timeline as internet outrage.
But I'm going to feel good for a while over this one.
greenman3610
(3,947 posts)Thanks to a months-long investigation by the Pulitzer-prize winning InsideClimate News, we learned last week that ExxonMobils own scientists had secretly confirmed the science behind human-caused climate change as early as the late 1970s.
Journeyman
(15,041 posts)And he did: The dead died for corporate profits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_Corporation_of_America
Parnell and his brother were convicted in September 2014 of 71 criminal counts,[75] including conspiracy, fraud and other federal charges.[76] In July 2015 Federal authorities recommended a sentence of life imprisonment for Parnell.[75]
DebbieCDC
(2,543 posts)is a peanut butter sandwich
Lychee2
(405 posts)He is going to prison AS punishment; not FOR punishment.
Baitball Blogger
(46,760 posts)alfredo
(60,077 posts)He knew he was killing Americans, I say he's a terrorist.
But he doesn't qualify as a terrorist. For that, he would have to threaten to spread more salmonella.
alfredo
(60,077 posts)GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Cuz payoffs trump justice.
xynthee
(477 posts)in pretty much every industry! Think of all the blood on all their hands. This guy seems to have been unusually blatant, though. It's almost as if he just couldn't conceive of ever being called to account for anything.
Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)After their merger in 2002, with Amoco they had what had once been the worlds largest refinery that was then a rust bucket, or as one of their internal documents stated, "If this plant had been an aircraft carrier, it would be at the bottom of the ocean." They had to determine how much money they would spend to get it to its most profitable point. They had 4 budgets the home office in London came up with, The straw house budget (they had cartoon pictures of these houses next to each budget); the stick house budget; brick house...; and the impenetrable fortress budget. Their problem, under the straw and stick house budgets they estimated they would kill some of their contract workers since they were not repairing all of the known dangers (refineries self report accidents and leaks since the EPA doesn't have the resources to inspect them).
BP's problem was best described in the budget plan thusly, "In order to have a more accurate budget, how much $ will it take to save our little (insert picture of cartoon pigs) (insert picture of bacon)? They came up with $10 million per death. That was not just to settle with the family of the deceased worker, but most went to pay defense attorneys and litigation costs and also for an ad budget to air ads to rehab their image in the area.
In Texas City they picked the Stick House budget because they would only kill one or two and their profits were higher under that budget. The problem was they underestimated the deaths and killed 15 instead, including James and Linda Rowe, the mother and father of Eva and Jeremy Rowe.
Since then they ruined the Gulf and countless businesses and lives, including many more dead. I hear BP has some job openings after gas prices go back up, any takers?
Fuck these guys!!!
tclambert
(11,087 posts)They would gut the budget for inspections, testing, and investigating outbreaks of illness; and they would try to abolish the agencies that regulate such industries. They wouldn't want to place an "unfair" burden on businesses, risk driving them into bankruptcy (like this did), or harm their profits. Gotta sell those tainted peanuts, contaminated meat, and toxic chemicals, including oil, coal, and natural gas.
alfredo
(60,077 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)And he didn't kill anybody, that we know of. Something is out of whack here.
alfredo
(60,077 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)+1.
alfredo
(60,077 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)You found a counter-example to disprove your own theory. What else can you do for entertainment?
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)I'm just saying that a 150 year sentence leaves the message that the Madoff's crime was worse than the one that netted the other guy 28 years.
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)marble falls
(57,282 posts)sentences meted out.