## Facts

- Quality Egg, LLC produced shell eggs linked to a nationwide 2010 *Salmonella Enteritidis* outbreak that caused thousands of illnesses and led to a recall of hundreds of millions of eggs.
- The government’s sentencing factual basis included that Quality Egg sold and shipped adulterated eggs in interstate commerce during early 2010 through August 2010.
- The factual basis also described conduct connected to the egg operation, including providing false information and documents to customers and regulators, bribing a USDA official to release retained eggs, and altering “Julian dates” on egg packaging to extend apparent shelf life and sell misbranded eggs.
- Quality Egg pled guilty to: (1) introducing adulterated eggs into interstate commerce (misdemeanor FDCA), (2) bribery of a public official, and (3) selling misbranded food with intent to defraud or mislead.
- Austin “Jack” DeCoster (owner) and Peter DeCoster (senior manager) each pled guilty to a single misdemeanor FDCA count as “responsible corporate officers” for causing the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce; the offense was treated as strict liability.
- Before sentencing, the DeCosters moved to bar any term of imprisonment, arguing constitutional limits on incarcerating defendants convicted of strict-liability misdemeanors.

## Issues

1. Whether judicial fact-finding at sentencing under the advisory Sentencing Guidelines violated the Sixth Amendment jury-trial right.
2. Whether imprisonment for strict-liability FDCA misdemeanor convictions of responsible corporate officers violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
3. Whether imprisoning defendants for strict-liability FDCA offenses without proof of mens rea violated Fifth Amendment substantive due process.

## Decision

- The court denied the DeCosters’ pre-sentencing constitutional motions.
- The court held that it could find sentencing facts by a preponderance of the evidence under an advisory Guidelines regime, so long as the sentence stayed within the statutory maximum authorized by the guilty plea.
- The court held that a short custodial sentence for strict-liability FDCA misdemeanors was not grossly disproportionate given the public-health harm and the defendants’ positions of authority.
- The court held that the FDCA’s strict-liability scheme, applied through the responsible corporate officer doctrine, permits imprisonment without proof of personal knowledge or intent and does not violate due process.
- The court sentenced Austin and Peter DeCoster to three months’ imprisonment each; Quality Egg received a substantial fine and probation/compliance conditions.

## Legal Principles

- Under advisory federal Sentencing Guidelines, a judge may make sentencing-related factual findings by a preponderance of the evidence without violating the Sixth Amendment, if the sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum authorized by the plea.
- For noncapital sentences, the Eighth Amendment imposes a narrow proportionality limit; imprisonment is unconstitutional only if grossly disproportionate to the offense.
- Congress may impose strict-liability criminal sanctions in public-welfare regulatory schemes; under the FDCA responsible corporate officer doctrine, corporate officials in a position to prevent or correct violations may be held criminally liable even without proof of intent or knowledge.
- Imprisonment for an FDCA strict-liability misdemeanor may satisfy due process where the statute targets public-health dangers, the defendant held responsible authority over the regulated activity, and the punishment falls within the statute’s authorized limits.

## Conclusion

The court rejected Sixth, Eighth, and Fifth Amendment challenges to imprisonment for strict-liability FDCA misdemeanor convictions of responsible corporate officers and imposed short custodial terms based on the seriousness of the outbreak and the defendants’ failure to prevent adulterated eggs from entering interstate commerce.


United States v. Quality Egg, LLC, 99 F. Supp. 3d 920 (N.D. Iowa 2015)