Civil Plaintiff
Pilgrim’s Pride Pays $110M to Settle Chicken Price-Fixing Charges
New York (CNN Business)Pilgrim’s Pride announced Wednesday that it will pay more than $110.5 million in a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
The plea is related to the DOJ’s investigation into broiler chicken products, according to a news release. Earlier this year, senior executives from Colorado-based Pilgrim’s (PPC) and Georgia-based Claxton Poultry Farms — major US chicken producers — were indicted for conspiring to fix prices and rig bids on broiler chickens, which are sold to grocery stores and restaurants.
The one-count indictment leveled charges against former CEO Jayson Penn and former vice president, Roger Austin. The Wall Street Journal reported Penn left the company in September.
