SK Foods insider charged in connection with food scandal

Sacramento Bee
By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com
Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 - 12:09 pm

Jeffrey Sherman Beasley was charged in federal court today in connection with an ongoing investigation of corruption in the food industry.

As a former vice president of SK Foods LP, Beasley, 63, is the highest-ranking insider to be charged in the unfolding scandal.

He was charged with conspiracy in connection with bribery of purchasing managers of major food companies and with conspiracy to introduce into interstate commerce deliberately misbranded food with the intent to defraud and mislead consumers.

Beasley has agreed to plead guilty and to cooperate with the government in the ongoing investigation of the food industry.

Several other individuals have pleaded guilty in the scandal, including former SK broker and director Randall Lee Rahal and purchasing managers from Kraft Foods Inc., Frito-Lay Inc., and B&G Foods Inc. Last week Robert L. Watson, of White Plains, N.Y., a former senior purchasing manager for Kraft, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison and ordered to pay restitution to Kraft of $1.858 million.

A number of civil lawsuits have been filed over the past several months seeking class certification on behalf of customers of SK Foods. The suits accuse the company of price-fixing in violation of federal antitrust laws.

Monterey-based SK Foods is one of the nation's largest growers of tomatoes and processors of tomato products. It has plants in Williams, 50 miles north of Sacramento, and Lemoore, south of Fresno.

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