United States v. Quality Egg, LLC

Decision Date14 April 2015
Docket NumberNo. C 14–3024–MWB.,C 14–3024–MWB.
Citation99 F.Supp.3d 920
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. QUALITY EGG, LLC, et al., Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

99 F.Supp.3d 920

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff
v.
QUALITY EGG, LLC, et al., Defendant.

No. C 14–3024–MWB.

United States District Court, N.D. Iowa, Central Division.

Signed April 14, 2015.


99 F.Supp.3d 922

Peter E. Deegan, Jr., U.S. Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Plaintiff.

Frank R. Volpe, Mark D. Hopson, Thomas C. Green, Sidley Austin, LLP, Washington, DC, Stuart J. Dornan, Dornan, Lustgarten & Troia, PC, LLO, Omaha, NE, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS PRIOR TO SENTENCING

MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION 922
II. THE DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS PRIOR TO SENTENCING 924
III. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 925
A. Quality Egg Provided False Information and Documents 927
B. Quality Egg Bribed a USDA Official 928
C. Quality Egg Changed the “Julian Dates” on Packages of Eggs and Sold Misbranded Eggs into Interstate Commerce 929
D. Quality Egg Failed to Meet FDA Regulatory Standards 931
IV. ISSUES 934
V. DISCUSSION 934
A. Whether The Sixth Amendment Was Violated By My Factual Finding At The Defendants' Sentencing Hearing 934
1. Defendants' Arguments 934
2. Prosecutors' Arguments 935
3. Analysis 936
B. Whether the Eighth Amendment Permits a Sentence of Imprisonment for the Defendants' Strict Liability Offenses 939
1. Defendants' Arguments 939
2. Prosecutors' Arguments 939
3. Analysis 941
C. Whether The Fifth Amendment Permits a Sentence of Imprisonment for the Defendants' Strict Liability Offenses 947
1. Defendants' Arguments 947
2. Prosecutors' Arguments 949
3. Analysis 951
VI. CONCLUSION 958

I. INTRODUCTION

Gilead is a fictional novel based in the small town of Gilead, Iowa. The main character, Reverend John Ames, is dying from heart complications and, in a Ciceronian fashion,1 he decides to write a letter to his

99 F.Supp.3d 923

seven-year-old son with the intention that his son will read that letter after Reverend Ames dies. The novel is an account of life lessons learned by Reverend Ames as well as daily occurrences with his son, wife, and other family and community members. In a theoretical sense, the imagery from one scene in Gilead aptly incorporates some of the key contents of this case—i.e., chicken eggs, a father and a son, rural Iowa, and a disaster:

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