Plea deal calls for egg company to pay $6.8M fine
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa company has agreed to pay $6.8 million in fines for selling old eggs with false labels and the tainted products that caused a nationwide salmonella outbreak in 2010, according to a plea agreement released Monday.
Quality Egg LLC, once one of the nation's largest egg producers, is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges of bribing a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector to approve sales of poor quality eggs, selling misbranded eggs and introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. The company's owner, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, and its chief operating officer, Peter DeCoster, are expected to plead guilty to introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce, a misdemeanor.
The DeCosters face sentences ranging from probation to one year in jail, according to plea agreements filed Monday by federal prosecutors. Jack DeCoster, 79, of Turner, Maine, and his 50-year-old son Peter, of Clarion, Iowa, have agreed to pay $100,000 fines each.
U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett must approve the plea agreements and sentence the DeCosters who, along with Quality Egg, could also be ordered to pay restitution to victims. The agreements allow the DeCosters to appeal any jail terms.
More at http://www.themonitor.com/news/us_news/plea-deal-calls-for-egg-company-to-pay-m-fine/article_4a7ff011-8d0a-5548-90ef-0e468f61a815.html .
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