One of three Mississippi men, accused of conspiring to defraud the government by falsifying poultry temperatures before export to Russia, is considering a guilty plea while the trial for the other two has been postponed.
The men were employed by Gulf Coast Cold Storage, a tenant at the state Port of Pascagoula, when the alleged conspiracy took place in 2009. The three men were charged in a five-count indictment involving a trade agreement between the United States and Russia. They are accused of instructing workers to falsify temperatures and blast-freezer records, and ordering that poultry be stacked in ways to conceal products that didn't reach the required temperature, The Sun-Herald reported.
Terry White, 38, of Ocean Springs, Miss., had agreed to plead guilty in federal court. His attorney asked a judge to delay the plea hearing pending completion of a pre-sentence investigation report. The government agreed to the delay, and U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. set a new plea date of May 20.
Gerald Miller, 39, of Gautier, Miss., and Patrick McClain, 55, of Pascagoula, Miss., were set for trial April 1. The government was unable to get records from the business in advance of the trial, a prosecutor said in a court filing. Also, a key witness couldn't be found when agents tried several times to deliver a subpoena, but in a phone call, the man said he won't show up for trial without a subpoena, a court document stated. The judge agreed to delay the trial until June 3.
