Two former executives of Bumble Bee Foods have avoided jail time for their part in a scheme to fix the price of canned tuna, mostly because of their cooperation with prosecutors.
Ken Worsham, who had been Bumble Bee’s vice president of trade marketing, and Scott Cameron, former vice president of sales, were each sentenced to three years of probation in the case. Worsham also received a $25,000 fine and will be required to perform 75 hours of community service.
They both testified against former company president Chris Lischewski, who is serving a 40-month prison sentence. Bumble Bee conspired with its two major competitors, marketers of the Chicken of the Sea and Starkist brands, to keep the price of canned tuna artificially high between 2011 and 2013.
Judge Edward Chen handed down the sentences April 28 in federal court for the Northern District of California.
In a statement at his sentencing hearing, Cameron apologized to his former co-workers: “I lost my moral compass and I let each one of you down. I had a choice when I faced pressures to collude. I made the wrong choice. I will forever be sorry and ashamed. You all deserved better.”
