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Egg executives in salmonella case must report to prison

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 27th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A father and son whose Iowa-based egg production company caused a massive 2010 salmonella outbreak have exhausted their appeals and a federal judge has ordered them to begin serving prison sentences.

53-year old Peter DeCoster must report to the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota after July 30 and his 83-year-old father Austin “Jack” DeCoster must serve his three-month term at the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New Hampshire, 30 days after Peter is released.

They were sentenced to prison by a federal judge in Iowa in 2015 but appealed their sentences claiming they were unconstitutional and unreasonably harsh. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal in May. The DeCosters, who owned and operated Quality Egg LLC, pleaded guilty to selling adulterated food as responsible corporate officers.