Pilgrim’s Pride, the U.S.’s second largest chicken processing company, has agreed to pay $110.5 million in fines to settle federal charges it had colluded with competitors to fix prices and pass the higher cost to wholesalers, retailers, and consumers.
In June, federal prosecutors indicted Jayson Penn, then Pilgrim’s President and CEO, and Roger Austin, the company’s former VP. The two allegedly agreed with executives at Claxton Farms, another poultry processor, to rig bids and fix prices from 2012 into 2017.
The U.S. justice department confirmed the agreement, which is subject to court approval, but offered no additional details.
The case arose from a 2019 lawsuit by grocery chains, claiming the processors were manipulating prices. The justice department then intervened in the suit.
TRENDPOST: We note this story to again illustrate how America, once the Land of Opportunity, has now been monopolized by the Bigs, and how they get a slap on the wrist for their high crimes and misdemeanors… while We the Little People of Slavelandia are punished to the full extent of the law for minor crimes.
