Samuel Lightsey, the former manager of a peanut butter plant linked to a Salmonella outbreak pleaded guilty to fraud and six other counts in a criminal case. In 2009, 714 people in 46 states got Salmonella poisoning from peanut butter made Peanut Corporation of America. Nine of them died.
The company’s owner, Stewart Parnell, and his brother Michael Parnell, a food broker, and the plant’s quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson were also charged. Lightsey faces a possible fine of $250,000 and 20-year prison terms for each of the seven charges. The sentencing will occur at a later date.
Food Poisoning Bulletin Publisher Fred Pritzker, a food safety lawyer who represents people injured in the outbreak, said his clients feel the trial is a way for wrongdoers to be held accountable. Pritzker, who is president of the national food safety law firm, PritzkerOlsen, represents several of the injury and death victims harmed by PCA products. “This prosecution sends the right message to food producers: you need to take personal responsibility for the products you sell.”
“This prosecution sends the right message to food producers: you need to take personal responsibility for the products you sell.” AMEN! and congratulations.