Tag: criminal
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Importers of Melamine-Tainted Wheat Gluten to Plead Guilty
According to a news source, a Las Vegas-based company and its co-owners have agreed to plead guilty to charges that they imported from China melamine-tainted wheat gluten used to make the pet food that purportedly sickened and killed thousands of cats and dogs in the United States and Canada in 2007. More details about the…
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Government Moves to Dismiss Identity Theft Charges at Kosher Slaughterhouse
As anticipated, federal prosecutors have reportedly filed a motion to dismiss a number of charges of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft against a Postville, Iowa, slaughterhouse, its former executive and a former manager. The action was taken after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a conviction under the identity theft law requires a showing…
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High Court Ruling on Identity Theft Law Affects Pleas from Immigrant Raids at Iowa Meatpacking Plant
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a conviction under the identity theft law requires a showing that those presenting false identification documents to employers knew they actually belonged to another real person. According to Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the unanimous Court, the law was intended to crack down on classic identity theft, for…
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Misbranded Food Conviction Overturned
Judge Richard Posner, writing for a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel, has determined that the government failed to prove that the defendant misbranded food by changing the “best when purchased by” date on bottled salad dressing that he then resold. U.S. v. Farinella, Nos. 08-1839, 08-1860 (7th Cir., decided March 12, 2009). A jury…
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Tomato Industry “Racketeering” Investigation Elicits Two Guilty Pleas
Federal investigators seeking to crack down on corruption in California’s tomato-processing sector have apparently secured guilty pleas from two industry employees, one with a tomato paste supplier and the other with a processed tomato purchaser. Jennifer Dahlman, who worked for a California company under investigation for alleged bribery, price-fixing and mislabeling, reportedly pleaded guilty to…
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Criminal Animal Abuse Charges Filed Against Former Turkey Farm Employees
Video footage of former Aviagen Turkeys, Inc. employees allegedly abusing birds has reportedly led to criminal indictments for animal abuse. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) apparently caught three turkey farm employees in the act, and 19 counts, including 11 felony charges, for cruelty to birds have been brought against them. Alabama-based…
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Dairy Executive Appeals Life Sentence Imposed After Tainted Milk Guilty Plea
According to a news source, former Sanlu Group chairwoman Tian Wenhua has appealed the life sentence she received after she entered a guilty plea to charges arising out of the melamine-tainted milk scandal in China that sickened hundreds of thousands of children and led to a number of deaths. Tian’s lawyer reportedly contends that his…
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FDA Reports More Cases of Melamine in U.S. Infant Formula
FDA has reportedly detected the industrial chemical melamine and its byproduct cyanuric acid in additional cans of U.S.-manufactured infant formula, but stressed that the levels are below the safety threshold set for young children and infants. Four of the 89 infant formula products tested by FDA contained trace amounts of melamine or cyanuric acid, which…