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# Egg Baron “Jack” DeCoster: Focus of Criminal Probe
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/05/egg-baron-jack-decoster-focus-of-criminal-probe/
- Published: 2012-05-17T01:59:02.000Z
- Updated: 2012-05-17T01:59:02.000Z
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Lawsuits & Litigation, criminal charges, DeCoster, eggs, NuCal, Salmonella, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 08:58

Austin “Jack” DeCoster, son Peter DeCoster, and Patsy Larson, chief financial officer for Quality Egg, are targets of a federal criminal investigation, the **Bangor Daily News** reported Wednesday.

![eggsettlements-iphone.jpg](http://www.foodsafetynews.com/eggsettlements-iphone.jpg)

The newspaper, quoting defense lawyers, said the trio would likely invoke their rights against self-incrimination if called before a federal grand jury in Iowa.

Quality Egg (Wright County Egg) and Hillandale Farms, which together recalled more than a half billion-shell eggs between Aug. 13 and 20, 2010, are blamed for 1,939 Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses that occurred between May 1 and Nov.30, 2010.

The two Iowa egg production facilities were the western edge of a DeCoster egg empire that stretched to Ohio and Maine. Son Peter ran the day-to-day operations in Iowa.

The existence of the federal criminal investigation came to light because it is impacting a separate civil lawsuit brought by the California cooperative known as NuCal Foods. In the civil action, the cooperative claims DeCoster knew his poultry operation had a severe Salmonella Enteritidis contamination problem, but did nothing about it.

Through their lawyers, the DeCosters and Larson have denied “knowingly” letting contaminated eggs get distributed.