Former peanut executive receives long prison term in Salmonella case
Former peanut executive receives long prison term in Salmonella case
The former owner of Peanut Corp. of America was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in a 2008 Salmonella outbreak that claimed nine lives and sickened 714 across 46 states.
Stewart Parnell, 61, was convicted in 2014 on 72 counts of fraud, conspiracy and introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. His sentencing on Sept. 21 represents the longest prison term ever levied upon an executive in a food poisoning case.
Also receiving prison terms were his brother, Michael Parnell, a food broker, who received 20 years, and Mary Wilkerson, a quality-assurance manager at the plant in Blakely, GA, who received a five-year term.
During testimony at the trial last year, jurors heard evidence of unsanitary conditions at the plant, including roaches, rodents, bird droppings and a leaky roof. Email, lab and financial records introduced into evidence revealed that Stewart Parnell was aware of the conditions but wrote, “Just ship it” in an email to a manager in 2007. Additionally, in some cases, product was shipped the same day it was processed instead of being held for lab tests, and records were falsified to show that outgoing batches tested negative for Salmonella.