Sentencing hearings scheduled in federal court tomorrow in Albany, GA, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET will all but conclude the trial court’s work in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case. To be sentenced on Thursday are the two PCA managers at Blakely, GA, who made deals with the government to become prosecution witnesses at trial in exchange for reduced prison time. Samuel Lightsey and Daniel Kilgore, who both managed PCA’s Blakely peanut processing plant at various times, together accounted for about 10 of the 35 days of trial testimony a year ago. In what was officially declared a complex criminal case, it was their testimony that allowed the prosecution to get much of the intricate detail put before the jury as evidence. blakelypcaplant09_406x250Jury convictions reached in September 2014 led to last week’s stunning 28-year prison term for former PCA CEO Stewart Parnell, 61, a 20-year term for his peanut broker brother Michael, 56, and five years in a federal women’s prison for Mary Wilkerson, 41, PCA’s quality assurance manager at Blakely. Stewart Parnell was convicted on 68 counts involving felony fraud, conspiracy, and knowingly allowing contaminated food to be sold in interstate commerce, offenses with maximum sentences totaling 803 years. The jury found Michael Parnell guilty on 30 similar counts, and it found Wilkerson guilty on a single count of obstruction of justice. Lightsey will be sentenced in the morning on Thursday, and Kilgore in the afternoon. Both will appear before Judge W. Louis Sands, who, on Sept. 21, also sentenced the trio of PCA defendants convicted by the jury. Lightsey made his deal with prosectors in May 2014 and obtained an agreement that limits any prison sentence coming his way to six years at most. Under the plea agreement, Lightsey pleaded guilty to seven of the 76 counts contained in the original indictment that was unsealed in February 2013. The government then “terminated,”or dismissed, the balance of charges against him. Kilgore was originally charged under a separate 29-count indictment that was kept secret until the other PCA defendants were charged. Kilgore opted to become a government witness from the very beginning of the case, pleading guilty to all charges against him in exchange for his testimony and a promise that he won’t be imprisoned for more than 12 years. Both defendants and the government prosecutors have agreed to findings contained in sealed Pre-Sentence Investigative Reports, and both defendants were present Sept. 21 to apologize to victims of the deadly 2008-09 Salmonella outbreak that was blamed on peanut butter and peanut paste from the Blakely plant. Tomorrow’s hearings will bring back to the courtroom lawyers for both defendants who have mostly been on the sidelines since the plea deals were made. Blakely, GA, attorney Robert Robinson McLendon IV and Valdosta, GA, attorney Roger J. Dodd are representing Kilgore. Clayton Rushing Tartt, William Calvin White II, and James W. Parkman III, all of Parkman White LLP in Birmingham, AL, are representing Lightsey. Samuel Lightsey: Pending Counts 18:1349 and 2 – CONSPIRACY (1) 18:371 and 2 – CONSPIRACY (2) 21:331(a) AND 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF ADULTERATED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (17) 21:331(a)and 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF MISBRANDED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (32) 18:1341 – INTERSTATE SHIPMENTS FRAUD (50) 18:1343 – WIRE FRAUD (67) 18:1505 and 2 – OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE (76) Highest Offense Level (Opening) Felony Lightsey: Terminated (Dismissed) Counts 21:331(a) AND 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF ADULTERATED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (14-16) 21:331(a) AND 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF ADULTERATED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (18-22) 21:331(a)and 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF MISBRANDED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (29-31) 21:331(a)and 333(a)(2) and 18:2 – INTRODUCTION OF MISBRANDED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (33-35) 18:1341 – INTERSTATE SHIPMENTS FRAUD (47-49) 18:1341 – INTERSTATE SHIPMENTS FRAUD (51-55) 18:1343 – WIRE FRAUD (64-66) 18:1505 and 2 – OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE (68-71) 18:1505 and 2 – OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE (74-75) Highest Offense Level (Terminated) Felony Daniel Kilgore: Pending Counts 18:1349 and 2: ATTEMPT AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MAIL FRAUD (1) 18:371: CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES (2) 21:331(a) and 333(a)(2): INTRODUCTION OF ADULTERATED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD (3-10) 21:331(a) and 333(a)(2): INTRODUCTION OF MISBRANDED FOOD INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD OR MISLEAD. (11-16) 18:1341: INTERSTATE SHIPMENTS FRAUD (17-24) 18:1343: WIRE FRAUD (25-29) Highest Offense Level (Opening) Felony

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