Petitions from the Parnell brothers for an appellate rehearing of their criminal convictions and sentences were denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta on June 11. Further, their petitions for Rehearing En Banc were also rejected as no active judge asked to poll the Court.…
Wilkerson seeks release on bail as Lightsey gains his freedom
Samuel Lightsey, the one-time operations manager for the Peanut Corporation of America’s processing plant in Blakely, GA, is out of prison with a new job at a company equipping the peanut industry.
Another key figure in the PCA Salmonella saga, 43-year-old Mary Wilkerson, wants to…
First of PCA convicted executives begins prison release process
Samuel Lightsey, 52, the former manager of the now defunct Peanut Corporation of America processing plant in Blakely, GA, has moved into a Residential Re-entry Management facility in Atlanta a step toward his release from federal prison scheduled for Oct. 1.
Samuel Lightsey, left, and Stewart Parnell take the oath before…
Appellants in PCA criminal case given more time to file briefs
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has set Oct. 5, 2016, as the deadline for appellants Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson, to file briefs. Originally they were due on June 20. 
The trio is appealing their convictions and sentences in the Peanut Corporation of America criminal case that went to…
Parnell brothers finally in prison for deadly peanut butter outbreak
For the first time since they were sentenced last September, brothers Stewart and Michael Parnell are in federal prisons. The elder brother, Stewart Parnell, 61, is the former owner and chief executive officer of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The company’s Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter products killed at least nine and sickened thousands in 2008-09. Stewart…
Restitution Hearing Today for PCA’s Mostly Absent Criminal Defendants
The federal judge who has presided over the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case will conduct his likely last hearing in the case today, and the victims of the 2008-09 Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak are waiting for his restitution order. 
Release Pending Appeal is Denied for Parnell Brothers
Brothers Stewart and Michael Parnell will not be released on bond pending the outcome of their appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta ruled. Judges for the Circuit, however, did on Jan. 8 grant the Parnell brothers more time to file their appellant briefs. The briefs are now due 40…
Sands Offers PCA Defendants Hearings Before Imposing Restitution
The trial court judge who only recently sent four defendants to federal prison for a total of 57 years is not quite through with them. U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands this week let four of the five who were convicted in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case know, through their attorneys,…
All Five Convicted Former PCA Managers Now in Federal Custody
All five people convicted in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case are now in federal custody. Samuel Lightsey and Daniel Kilgore, the former plant manager and former operations manager, respectively, for PCA’s ill-fated peanut processing facility at Blakely, GA, have voluntarily surrendered to their assigned federal prisons. Peanut butter and peanut paste from…
Wilkerson Surrenders to Women’s Minimum-Security Prison in Florida
Mary Wilkerson, the former Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) quality assurance manager whom a jury found had lied to federal food safety investigators, surrendered Tuesday to a federal correctional institution in Marianna, FL. The 42-year-old mother of two from Edison, GA, has begun a five-year prison term at FCI Marianna, which the U.S. Bureau of…
ICYMI: Last PCA Sentences, Animal Antibiotics, Contaminated Cukes
In case you missed it, here are some of the top food safety stories from last week:
PCA Sentencing: The final two defendants in the Peanut Corporation of America case, Daniel Kilgore and Samuel Lightsey, were sentenced Thursday, Oct. 1, in Albany, GA, to six and three years in prison, respectively. The two men made …