On July 7, 2022, a federal jury in Denver acquitted five executives who faced criminal charges for conspiring to fix prices in the chicken industry. The not-guilty verdict, which acquitted current and former executives of top chicken producers Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms, provides a sense of finality after the DOJ’s two earlier prosecutions ended in mistrials. But the acquittal leads to an interesting crossroads for the Biden Administration, which has been clear on its strong antitrust enforcement agenda, and now may have to adjust enforcement strategy following the loss.
The acquittal comes nearly 18 months after Pilgrim’s Pride pled guilty in February 2021 to conspiring to fix broiler chicken prices and agreed to pay $107.9 million in criminal fines. Tyson Food agreed to cooperate with the DOJ as part of its application for leniency under the DOJ’s Corporate Leniency Program to avoid criminal charges.
