Albany, Ga.| Reuters –– The former owner of Peanut Corporation of America was sentenced in federal court on Monday to 28 years in prison for his role in a salmonella outbreak linked to nine deaths.
In a rare case of criminal prosecution linked to food contamination, Stewart Parnell, the former owner of Peanut Corporation of America, and his brother, Michael Parnell, who was a food broker on behalf of the company, were convicted on federal conspiracy charges in September 2014 for knowingly shipping salmonella-tainted peanuts to customers.
Contamination at the company’s plant in Blakely, Georgia, led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history and forced the company into liquidation.
— Reporting for Reuters by Rich McKay.
