Multiple news sources have indicated a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado on Oct. 17 has dismissed federal charges against two former Pilgrim’s Pride executives who were among those charged in a price-fixing prosecution.
Law360 reported that the last pending case in chicken price-fixing incident ended before federal court Judge Daniel Domenico, who had excluded much of the evidence against Jason McQuire and Timothy Stiller.
McQuire was a former executive vice president of sales at Pilgrim’s Pride and Timothy Stiller was a former general manager, according to Reuters. The news service said Domenico granted the prosecutor’s request to dismiss the action without prejudice, which leaves open a chance for the government to try a new case later on.
A federal grand jury had said the two men, along with Justin Gay and Wesley Scott Tucker, also with Pilgrim’s Pride at the time, had entered into and engaged in a continuing combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by rigging bids and fixing prices and the price-related terms for broiler chickens sold in the United States between 2012 and 2019. Charges against Gay and Tucker were dismissed.
In July, a Colorado jury acquitted five former Pilgrim’s Pride executives.
Dave Bergmeier can be reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].
