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Former Peanut Company President Sentenced to 28 Years in Prison for Tampering with Peanut Products
Albany, Georgia – In a shocking turn of events, Stewart Parnell, the former owner and president of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), has been sentenced to 336 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud customers by shipping salmonella-positive peanut products before the results of microbiological testing were received and falsifying microbiological test results.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Parnell, 61, of Lynchburg, Virginia, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands on March 26, 2015. In addition to his prison sentence, Parnell will also serve three years of supervised release.
Parnell was convicted of multiple counts of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and the sale of misbranded food. He was also found guilty of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce and obstruction of justice.
The case against Parnell and his brother, Michael Parnell, 56, of Midlothian, Virginia, who worked at P.P. Sales and was a food broker who worked on behalf of PCA, stems from a salmonella outbreak in 2009 that affected 46 states and resulted in over 22,000 reported cases of salmonella poisoning, including nine deaths.
The Parnell brothers were accused of participating in several schemes to defraud customers about the presence of salmonella in their products. They fabricated certificates of analysis (COAs) accompanying various shipments of peanut products, which are documents that summarize laboratory results, including test results concerning the presence or absence of pathogens in food.
The sentencing marks the culmination of a long and complex case that has left many questioning the safety of the food supply chain. As Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery noted, “Americans should be able to trust that the food we buy for ourselves and our families is safe.”
Parnell’s brother, Michael, was sentenced to serve 240 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Mary Wilkerson, 41, of Edison, Georgia, who held various positions at PCA’s Blakely, Georgia, plant, including receptionist, office manager, and quality assurance manager, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Food Safety Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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