"I don't have the impression that Parnell set out to kill people," Tobias said. Specifically, the government presented evidence that the defendants misled customers about the presence of salmonella in their products. Emails prosecutors presented at trial showed that Parnell once directed employees to "turn them loose" after samples of peanuts tested positive for salmonella and then were cleared in another test. Almer became an advocate for stronger food safety regulations. The court also found the government established evidence that Stewart Parnell and Mary Wilkerson should be accountable for harming more than 250 victims, and Michael Parnell should be accountable under federal sentencing guidelines for harming more than 50 victims. It came down after Parnell, in a shaky voice, spoke to those he had harmed. “They did not and lives were lost. “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 within the meaning of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and pursue any person who fails to abide by the vital food safety protections in the law. Last modified on Thu 2 … "It's just been a seven-year nightmare for me and my family," Parnell told a courtroom filled with families of children who survived violent illnesses and elderly adults who died after eating his company's peanut butter. ", Ernest Carter of Chicago, whose grandmother died after snacking on peanut butter crackers linked to Parnell's plant, called the apology "too little, too late.". A federal jury convicted Parnell of knowingly shipping contaminated peanut butter and of faking results of lab tests intended to screen for salmonella. U.S. District Judge Louis Sands gave Michael Parnell 20 years in prison. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. "The tragedy of this case is that at a peanut processing plant in Middle Georgia, protecting the public lost out to increasing of profits. When food kills – Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell, right, and former plant manager Samuel Lightsey testify before Congress about the 2008-2009 salmonella outbreak linked to … I'm truly sorry for what happened. This case was never just about shipping tainted peanut product; it was about making sure individual wrong doers were held accountable and the losses suffered by the victims and their families are never forgotten.”. PCA was founded in 1977 and initially run by Hugh Parnell, father of Stewart Parnell, with him and two other sons. The former Peanut Corporation of America owner had remained publicly silent in 2009 after authorities traced salmonella blamed for killing nine people and sickening 714 to his plant in rural southwest Georgia. Before the judge issued the sentences, Stewart Parnell said; “This has been a seven-year nightmare for me and my family. They also found a leaky roof. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection shortly after it was shut down. Mary Wilkerson, 41, a former quality control manager at the plant who was found guilty of obstruction, was sentenced to five years in prison. His brother and food broker Michael Parnell received a 20-year sentence, and the plant's quality assurance manager, Mary Wilkerson, was given five years. Before federal marshals led him from the courtroom en route to prison, possibly for the rest of his life, Stewart Parnell apologized years after his company's peanut butter spawned a deadly outbreak of salmonella poisoning. ", Bill Marler, an attorney who specializes in food-safety cases and represented many of the salmonella victims in civil lawsuits, said: "The fact that he was prosecuted at all is a victory for consumers.". "Manufacturers already pay attention, but they will take note that if they were to fail, there can be serious ramifications," Pollack said. Hundreds fell ill, and at least nine died. Lightsey and Kilgore are scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, Oct. 1, in Albany. The PCA case, he said, is historic in that a corporate executive was held accountable with a prison term for knowingly distributing tainted food. The company was sold in 1994–1995 with the senior Parnell retiring, and with Stewart Parnell and others re… We all ate it.”, Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta and Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Editing by David Adams, Lisa Shumaker and Sharon Bernstein. Or what to do if you find the critters? Stewart Parnell, pictured, of the Peanut Corporation of America will be sentenced on September 21. The emails and documents told a story of a company that was more interested in shipping out products than products that were safe.". Here are 9 COVID-related symptoms that you may not have heard of. Defense attorneys argued that Parnell did not know about mismanagement at the plant and that he was the fall guy for other employees' wrongdoing. Stewart Parnell faced life in prison and his brother faced about 24 years. “No one thought that the products were unsafe or could harm someone,” said Stewart Parnell’s daughter, Grey Parnell. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based on epidemiological projections, that number translates to more than 22,000 total cases including nine deaths. Jeff Almer, of Brainerd, Minnesota, said his mother, Shirley Almer, died after eating tainted peanut butter in 2009, one of 714 people to fall ill. "My mother died a painful death from salmonella, and the look of horror on her face as she died shall always haunt me," he said. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. “Today’s sentencing sends a powerful message to officials in the food industry that they stand in a special position of trust with the American consumer, and those who put profit above the welfare of their customers and knowingly sell contaminated food will face serious consequences,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.