A former Quality Egg LLC employee who was involved in a 2010 interstate Salmonella outbreak that caused as many as 56,000 people to become ill has been sentenced to four years of probation.
Tony Wasmund, who in 2012 pleaded guilty to his role in bribing a USDA inspector to allow sales of eggs that didn’t meet federal standards, was able to avoid jail time because he cooperated with investigators and provided “substantial assistance” in the case, according to a KDLT report. Wasmund was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett.
Another Quality Egg employee had also allegedly tried to bribe USDA inspectors, but that person is now deceased.
The 2010 Salmonella outbreak also led to the recall of 550 million eggs.
Two of Quality Egg’s top executives, Austin “Jack” DeCoster, and his son, Peter DeCoster in April were sentenced to three months in jail after being found guilty of misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. They also were both fined $100,000 and Quality Egg paid a fine of $6.8 million.
Those sentences came despite urgings from the DeCosters’ attorney, who stated he did not feel his clients deserved jail time, as federal prosecutors said they had found no evidence that the father and son were aware the company was selling tainted products.
