Executives charged with poultry price fixing

Koch Foods, one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, was indicted Thursday on federal charges of engaging in a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices of chicken products. Also accused of taking part in the same conspiracy were four executives who worked for Pilgrim’s Pride, another poultry producer.

The indictments are part of a long-running investigation into claims that some of the biggest American poultry companies, including Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride, conspired to manipulate chicken prices, raising costs for American consumers.

The conspiracy began as early as 2012 and lasted until at least 2019, the Justice Department said.

On Thursday, a federal jury in Denver indicted Koch Foods, based in Park Ridge, Illinois, alleging that it “conspired to suppress and eliminate competition for sales of broiler chicken products,” the statement said. Koch Foods has a facility in Fairfield.

The four Pilgrim’s Pride executives charged are Jason McGuire, a former executive vice president; Timothy Stiller, a former general manager; Wesley Tucker, a sales executive; and Justin Gay, a sales director.

“Price fixing is not a victimless crime, and the illegal actions taken by these companies and individuals in the broiler chicken industry have had a direct and negative impact on the American consumer,” said Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington field office, which is conducting the investigation with the Justice Department’s antitrust division, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture.

The first charges in the investigation came last year, when Jayson Penn, then the chief executive of Pilgrim’s Pride, was indicted in June, along with three other current and former executives at companies that supply chicken to grocery stores and restaurants.