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Kenneth Kendrick, missing Monday from the federal courthouse in Albany, GA, did not hear the praise that came from a witness during a pivotal day in the world of food safety. Kendrick is a former assistant plant manager of the Plainview, Texas, peanut processing facility once owned by the now-defunct Peanut Corporation of America (PCA).…

Michael Parnell’s defense attorney is painting his client as a “little guy” who “lost it all.” I would dare Parnell and his defense team, and the other convicted former Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) executives, to stand before the families of the nine people who died as a result of their actions and try to…

In a legal move that, if successful, could significantly reduce sentences for Stewart and Michael Parnell, defense attorneys in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case have presented arguments that individual victims of an outbreak of foodborne illness are not “crime victims” under federal law. The sentencing recommendation that could see Stewart Parnell spending…

Lung cancer and a brain tumor didn’t kill my mother — Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter did. My friends and family mourned her passing, but we resolved to try to fix the system that ultimately allowed irresponsible food manufacturers to ship tainted peanut products nationwide, sickening more than 700 people and killing nine. [caption id=”attachment_99156″ align=”alignright”…

Stewart Parnell should be sentenced to life in prison, Michael Parnell to 17.5-21.8 years in prison, and Mary Wilkerson to 8-10 years in prison, according to recommendations from the U.S. Probation Office. U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys say those recommendations have been “correctly calculated.” pcaBlakeley_406x250Speaking for Stewart Parnell’s defense team, Atlanta attorney Ken Hodges…

ALBANY, GA—Defense attorneys in the restitution phase of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal prosecution focused in Wednesday on a 2009 claims adjustment agreement that a bankruptcy court used to disperse $12.75 million to 122 victims of the PCA-caused Salmonella outbreak. E. Scott Austin, representing former PCA owner and chief executive Stewart Parnell, suggested…

Requests to put more time on the clock may not be over, but Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports (PSIRs) have now been filed for all five defendants convicted in the federal government’s case against Peanut Corporation of America, and some are under deadline for appeals. PSIRs are confidential documents prepared by Probation and Pretrial Services, a unit…

The Pre-Sentence Investigative Report (PSIR) for Stewart Parnell has been submitted to the court — ordinarily a sign that sentencing in a federal criminal case is drawing near — but apparently not in this case. Before PSIRs for Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson were readied, attorneys for all three defendants in the Peanut Corporation of…

When producers of such staple foods as beef, eggs, and peanut butter found they were the targets of federal criminal prosecution, it became a top food-safety story of 2014. But is it likely that food-safety enforcement will continue to rely on these U.S. Department of Justice-led (DOJ) criminal cases in 2015? You can bet on…