Peanut Exec Gets 28 Years In Prison For Deadly Salmonella Outbreak

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jason73

Yuri Bezmenov was right
First 100
Jan 15, 2015
72,788
134,170
i
Peanut Corporation of America's then-president Stewart Parnell arrives at federal court in 2009. Parnell was sentenced Monday to 28 years in prison for his role in a deadly salmonella outbreak from tainted peanut butter products.

Don Petersen/AP
A former corporate CEO has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling food that made people sick. Two other executives face jail time as well. These jail terms are by far the harshest sentences the U.S. authorities have handed down in connection with an outbreak of foodborne illness.

The outbreak, in this case, happened seven years ago. More than 700 cases of salmonella poisoning were linked to contaminated peanut products. Nine people died.

Investigators traced the contaminated food to a factory in Georgia operated by the Peanut Corporation of America.

The outbreak, by itself, was not unprecedented. There have been bigger, and deadlier, outbreaks of foodborne illness.

But the emails that investigators found at the Peanut Corporation of America set this case apart. Some of the emails came from the company's CEO, Stewart Parnell.


"Stewart Parnell absolutely knew that they were shipping salmonella-tainted peanut butter. They knew it, and they covered it up," says Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer who represented some of the victims.

Before and during the outbreak, company executives assured customers that their products were free of salmonella when no tests had been carried out.

And when tests did turn up salmonella, company executives sometimes just retested that batch, and when it came up clean, they sold it.

In one memorable e-mail exchange, when Parnell was told that a shipment was delayed because results of salmonella tests weren't yet available, he wrote back, "Just ship it."

Last year, Parnell and two other people involved PCA's peanut business were convicted of criminal charges that included fraud, obstruction of justice, and selling adulterated food.

These were almost unprecedented charges in the food industry, and Marler says that executives in other companies are paying close attention. "The arrest of Stewart Parnell, his conviction on these felony counts, and his sentence have put a very big chill in the boardrooms of corporate America," he says.

The Peanut Corporation of America is no longer in business.

At the sentencing hearing for Parnell and his colleagues, relatives of some of the victims confronted Parnell with stories of their suffering. Parnell, for his part, asked for forgiveness and mercy, and said that he never intended to harm anyone. His daughter said that he sometimes brought his company's peanut butter home for his family to eat.

Along with Parnell's 28-year sentence, his brother Michael Parnell was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and another former executive was sentenced to five years.

All of these sentences are the harshest ever imposed in connection with an outbreak of foodborne illness.

In some other recent cases, companies sold contaminated eggs and cantaloupes that also were linked to multiple deaths. Executives in those companies were sentenced to probation and a few months in prison.

Stewart Parnell's lawyers have indicated that they will file an appeal.
 

lookoutawhale

Mammal of the Sea
Jan 20, 2015
4,404
7,300
thats messed up. They knew they were shipping tainted foods that would make people sick but still continued. Guy deserves it.

On a side note the bankers of wall streets that defrauded/ bankruped so many people are still free and living the high life but they go hard to the hoop after Mr Peanutbutter here.
 

Leigh

Engineer
Pro Fighter
Jan 26, 2015
10,925
21,293
Justice done right - this will act as a deterrent.

In China, he'd be taken into a field and shot. Not saying that's the correct response, just pointing it out.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,705
50,709
thats messed up. They knew they were shipping tainted foods that would make people sick but still continued. Guy deserves it.

On a side note the bankers of wall streets that defrauded/ bankruped so many people are still free and living the high life but they go hard to the hoop after Mr Peanutbutter here.
Gave you a winner for analogy but this guy did knowingly put people's lives at risk. Wall Street and this guy should share one cell.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,705
50,709
Question, as he would have had connections in the government, is his sentence going to be in a country club style prison?
 
Feb 28, 2015
2,564
5,763
I got salmonella poisoning once. I will spare you the gory details but I literally thought I was dying. Spent time in the hospital on a morphine drip, have never experienced pain like that in my life. Fuck these guys. And fuck all the food industry people that keep toying with our health. There's another few thousand that need to be put away too. Better yet, just feed these guys salmonella tainted food. Serve em up raw cookie dough, let em think they're gettin a treat and then in the next couple of days WHAM!
 

kneeblock

Drapetomaniac
Apr 18, 2015
12,435
23,026
I've had salmonella poisoning as well. Worst part was I could have been part of a class action suit, but no one bothered to tell me.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,705
50,709
I got salmonella poisoning once. I will spare you the gory details but I literally thought I was dying. Spent time in the hospital on a morphine drip, have never experienced pain like that in my life. Fuck these guys. And fuck all the food industry people that keep toying with our health. There's another few thousand that need to be put away too. Better yet, just feed these guys salmonella tainted food. Serve em up raw cookie dough, let em think they're gettin a treat and then in the next couple of days WHAM!
I've heard someone say the exact same thing, they said they thought they were dying and said they actually wanted to die.