Global Competition Review: DOJ Trims Down Broiler Chicken Case
April 1, 2022
The Justice Department has dropped criminal charges against five of the 10 defendants accused of conspiring to fix broiler chicken prices after the Antitrust Division’s second attempt to convict the chicken executives was declared a mistrial. Former Pilgrim’s Pride CEO Jayson Penn and former Claxton Poultry president Mikell Fries still face charges. “If the government thinks that the 10 defendants and their attorneys and my staff and another group of jurors should spend six weeks retrying this case after the government has failed in two attempts to convict even one defendant, then certainly Mr. Kanter has the time to come to Denver and explain to me why the Department of Justice thinks that that is an appropriate thing to do,” said US District Judge Philip Brimmer, who set a June 6 tentative start date for the third trial. Jayson Penn is represented by Michael Tubach, Anna Pletcher, and Brian Quinn.
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