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Criminal Justice

Peanut executive avoids maximum 803-year sentence in food-safety case

The former owner of a peanut-processing company has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for knowingly shipping contaminated peanut butter and covering up salmonella contamination.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 803 years in prison for the former executive, Stewart Parnell, who was convicted of 71 counts last September, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and wire fraud. The sentence was nonetheless believed to be the toughest penalty ever imposed on a food executive in a food-safety case, report CNN, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Associated Press.

Nine people died after eating peanut products made by Parnell’s company, Peanut Corp. of America, while hundreds of others were sickened in the salmonella outbreak in 2008 and 2009.

U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands, who imposed the sentence, said the wrongdoing was “driven simply by the desire to profit and to protect profits notwithstanding the known risks.”

A lawyer for Parnell, Tom Bondurant, told the Wall Street Journal that the sentence is “extremely harsh.” The defense team is seeking Parnell’s release on bond during his appeal.

Parnell’s brother, Michael Parnell, was sentenced to 20 years in prison while a corporate quality assurance manager, Mary Wilkerson, was sentenced to five years.