Reasonable estimates are that as many as four or five thousand dogs and cats were killed in the contamination of melamine and melamine-analogs in pet foods, perhaps twenty to thirty thousand made sick, dozens of manufacturers and over a hundred labels affected, costing millions to industry, thousands of taxpayer dollars spent by the FDA and USDA in investigation, and by the US Attorney's office in investigation and prosecution.
The company which imported the contaminated food ingredient into the US, Chemnutra, and its principals Steven and Sally-Qing Miller, were indicted and prosecuted over it, charged with a total of 27 counts (one a felony, all the others misdemeanors).
In an agreement with the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri, Chemnutra and Mr. and Mrs. Miller have pleaded guilty to two of the misdemeanor counts.
As part of the plea agreement the US Attorney is recommending to the judge for the Millers and ChemNutra
a sentence of three years probation (
PDF link) and monetary fines of $25,000 for ChemNutra; $5,000 for each of the Millers individually.
Pet-guardians...those current, and those aggrieved.. even those with dogs and cats which were unaffected, should all consider this sentencing recommendation sickening and disconcerting…
In the last few years we've seen numerous recalls of pet foods, humans sickened and killed due to E-coli contamination in spinach, sickened and killed due to contamination of the prescription blood-thinner Heparin, sickened and killed by Salmonella in peanut butter and peanut products ...and it continues.
To date, no one has been given a severe sentence, much less seen the inside of a prison cell. The only ones brought before a US criminal court regarding any of these matters (so far) are the Millers and ChemNutra.
This sentencing recommendation, if accepted by the court as agreed to by the US Attorney's office and Chemnutra/the Millers, unchanged, provides neither justice nor deterrence. Without deterrence ...what else might find its way into our pets foods NEXT year?
Bernard Madoff's sentencing hearing was a few days ago. Victims and their family members were heard from, prior to the judge handing down the sentence. I don't see why this should be any different.
Pet owners who had their dogs or cats sickened as a result of this episode, or worse, lost a pet, if they live close enough to Kansas City, should want to be heard from during the Chemnutra/Miller's sentencing hearing.
And for all the rest of us who don't live close enough, or can't make it to K.C., then I'm encouraging those to set aside a few minutes to protect their pets...by writing the judge who will be handing down the sentence.
So I'm asking pet-guardians to write:
Judge John T. Maughmer, U.S. Magistrate
U.S. Magistrate Judge Room 7662
US District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse Building
400 E. 9th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106
Tell him how disgusted and angered you are over this episode and this sentencing recommendation.
The sentence given to Bernard Madoff (150 years) is one which will cause anyone else contemplating doing what he did to pause and think long and hard about the consequences.
Ask the judge for a more appropriate sentence, one which provides deterrence.
In a follow up question of my own, I asked if there were any indications that these defendants had premeditated culpability in this instance, (they knew the gluten was contaminated,) or were they claiming they were simply negligent in not testing something from a trusted supplier? FelineDadinFla replied:
It was the opinion of the criminal/forensic investigative team that Mrs. Sally-Qing Miller, having an advanced degree in 'Food Chemical Engineering' (doesn't sound quite the same as 'gluten-stirrer,' does it?…) and past experience as an 'ISO 900' inspector and having been born in China and all the while being based there...that she was a position where she should have known that melamine would create a false-high protein indication, and that (mis)labeling the wheat-gluten as a 'non-food' item would alleviate the need for pre-export inspection in China. (Supported in
this article here.)
Two years ago Stephen Miller in testimony before the House Energy and Commerce committee, subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, claimed they were negligent in not testing from a trusted supplier...'we were victims here.'
Prepared written statement, and
archived webcast video here.
(He doesn't appear until the second panel, so if you're viewing the video, forward it up at least two and a half hours until the second panel is seated.)
They were charged with 13 counts of 'introduction of mislabeled' and 13 counts of 'introduction of adulterated'…. (13 shipments in total.) They pled guilty to one count each of 'mislabeled' and 'adulterated.'
If they pleaded 'guilty' ...kind of hard to say they didn't know…. They themselves may not have done the 'adulterating'...but they (or she) had to have known.
