In 2014 Stewart Parnell was found guilty of 72 counts of conspiracy and fraud, and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison. Michael Parnell, a food broker, was found guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to 20 years. The brothers are currently in federal prison after their 2014 trial where they were found guilty of deliberately sending peanut butter, tainted with Salmonella, into the food system.
In 2008, the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) traced a nationwide Salmonella outbreak to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely. During a raid, the plant was found to be infested with rats, roaches and water leaks.
The two brothers killed nine people and sickened hundreds by making tainted peanut butter, had asked that their sentences be vacated due to the alleged evidence trial counsel’s ineffective assistance.
United States Magistrate Judge, Thomas Q. Langstaff has recommended to the Court the following:
“Petitioner has failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence trial counsel’s ineffective assistance. WHEREFORE, it is recommended that Petitioner Stewart Parnell’s Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 be DENIED.” Magistrate Rec SP denied
“Petitioner has failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence trial counsel’s ineffective assistance. WHEREFORE, it is recommended that Petitioner Michael Parnell’s Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 be DENIED. Magistrate Rec MP denied