Washington - A jury convicted a high-ranking employee of Tyson Foods Inc of giving $8,500 worth of travel and tickets to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy at a time when the USDA was planning to tighten meat and poultry regulations.
In a trial previewing many of the same charges that Espy will face at his own trial in October, the jurors did not buy the defense argument the gifts merely reflected the Southern hospitality of billionaire and senior chairman Don Tyson.
An independent counsel has been investigating Espy since 1994, when he resigned his Cabinet post amid allegations of pocketing sports tickets, expensive luggage and other gifts from agribusinesses. Espy has maintained he is innocent.
But a federal jury found that Archie Schaffer, director of Tyson Foods' governmental affairs, broke the law by giving Espy more than $8,500 worth of those gifts.
The gratuities included paying for Espy and his girlfriend to attend a lavish, celebrity-studded party in Russellville, Arkansas to celebrate the birthday of a Tyson family member. Schaffer was also found guilty of giving tickets to Espy and his girlfriend to attend a 1993 inaugural dinner for President Clinton in Washington.
The panel convicted Jack Williams, also a Tyson Foods lobbyist, of lying to federal investigators about buying a $1,000 airline ticket for Espy's girlfriend so she could attend a Dallas Cowboys game.
"The jury's verdict is a clear reminder to company employees that they are responsible for their actions, and the defense of, 'I was just following orders' will not be tolerated as an excuse for illegal conduct," independent counsel Donald Smaltz said in a statement.
Jurors agreed that Schaffer was attempting to influence Espy in 1993 and 1994 when the USDA was mulling stricter rules for safe-handling labels for meat and poultry packages. The department was also thinking of holding processors to a "zero tolerance" for fecal contamination of animal carcasses.
Both measures -- which would have been costly to the industry -- were proposed after contaminated hamburgers sickened hundreds of people in the Pacific Northwest.
Defense lawyers had tried to convince the jury that both men were simply following through on social invitations extended by Tyson, a larger-than-life Arkansas businessman and longtime Clinton supporter.
Tyson, who was granted immunity as part of plea bargain with prosecutors, did not testify during the trial. Last December, his company pleaded guilty to similar charges and agreed to pay a $6 million fine in order to keep $200 million worth of federal school lunch contracts.
"We are disappointed in the verdict and will appeal it," said John Kotelly, an attorney for Williams.
The jury found Schaffer guilty of violating the century-old Meat Inspection Act that prohibits meat and poultry companies from giving gifts to USDA inspectors. Violations of the law, which was adopted soon after publication of Sinclair Lewis' classic novel "The Jungle", carry a mandatory one-year prison sentence.
But in a surprising turn, the jury acquitted Schaffer of a similar charge of giving gratuities to public officials for the same Arkansas birthday party.
"The jury acquitted on one count but convicted on the other. How can anyone possibly explain that verdict?" said Joe Caldwell, an attorney for Schaffer. He said he would ask US Judge James Robertson to reassess the merits of the case before filing an appeal.
Williams was convicted last year on two of the same charges of lying to federal investigators. The verdict was later thrown out and a new trial ordered.
Sentencing of both men was set for Sept. 10. Schaffer faces a maximum of five years in prison while Williams could be sentenced to ten years.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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