 991228 Hudson Foods and All Executives AcquittedDecember 10, 1999 Lincoln, NE - Hudson Foods and one of its former executives were acquitted of lying to government inspectors about the extent of E. coli contamination in what became the nation's biggest meat recall. The federal jury took less than two hours to reach its verdict following a four-week trial. The company and its former director of quality control, Michael Gregory, were accused of misleading inspectors who investigated a 1997 E. coli outbreak at Hudson's Columbus plant. Fifteen people in Colorado fell ill from the bacteria after eating hamburger processed at the plant. Prosecutors argued that Hudson Foods and Gregory tried to limit the scope of the recall by falsely telling investigators they had located all of the potentially contaminated meat. When investigators later discovered that the company was incorrect, the recall grew from the original 20,000 pounds of ground beef to 25 million pounds. Hudson and Gregory said the government was accurately informed, given the information they had at the time. They blamed the U.S. Department of Agriculture for not sharing all the information it had about the meat's distribution. “The government was never going to win this case,” said Hudson's attorney, Ty Cobb. “The case never should have been brought.” Gregory could have gotten up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Hudson Foods, which has since been bought by Tyson, could have gotten a $250,000 fine. Earlier, U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom dismissed charges that plant manager Brent Wolke lied to government inspectors during the recall. The judge also dismissed charges that Wolke and Gregory conspired to lie.
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