Federal prosecutors have decided to try chicken processing executives on price-fixing charges for a third time after two mistrials, according to legal news service Law360.com.
Prosecutors notified a federal court in Colorado, site of the first two trials, that the U.S. Department of Justice has decided to proceed with a trial against five former executives: two from Claxton Poultry and three from Pilgrim’s Pride, including two former CEOs.
Federal prosecutors tried these executives and five others, from Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, on charges that they colluded among themselves to set prices for their products. These trials ended with hung juries in December and in March.
Charges against the Tyson and Perdue executives have been dropped, but prosecutors informed the court on April 25 that they would proceed against the remaining five defendants, according to a report in Law360. They are: Claxton Poultry vice president Scott Brady and president Mikell Fries; former Pilgrim's Pride CEOs Jayson Penn and William Lovette; and former Pilgrim's Pride vice president Roger Austin.
