Stewart Parnell, former chief executive of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), received a landmark 28-year prison term for his involvement in the salmonella outbreak that led to nine deaths and hundreds of people being severely unwell.
Instead of pursuing the link to the fatalities, prosecutors decided to pursue the executives at PCA for their purported fraud, involving lying to customers about the contamination, and falsifying documents to cover up the contamination.
There are several important lessons which can be learned from the outcome of this case, which can be read in detail here.