Former Peanut Corp. of America CEO Receives 28 Year Prison Term

Stewart Parnell, the former owner of Peanut Corp. of America, received a 28 year prison sentence for his role in a nationwide salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds in 2008 and 2009. The sentence marked the most severe punishment ever for a food-related crime. Investigators documented a litany of unsanitary conditions at a Peanut Corp. of America plant in Georgia, including mold, roaches, dirty equipment, holes big enough to allow rodents inside and a failure to separate raw and cooked products, and also discovered emails showing that Parnell approved shipments he knew might be contaminated. [9/22/15]