Current:Home > MyA former NYC school food chief is sentenced to 2 years in a tainted chicken bribery case-LoTradeCoin
A former NYC school food chief is sentenced to 2 years in a tainted chicken bribery case
View Date:2024-12-23 19:30:51
NEW YORK (AP) — The former head of food services for New York City public schools was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday for a bribery scandal that resulted in children being served chicken tenders contaminated with metal and bone.
Eric Goldstein, the former school food chief, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court along with three men who ran a vendor that had contracted with the city to provide school food — Blaine Iler, Michael Turley and Brian Twomey. Iler was sentenced to one year and a $10,000 fine, Turley to 15 months and Twomey to 15 months and a $10,000 fine.
All four men were found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other charges after a monthlong trial in 2023.
“Eric Goldstein corruptly abused his high-ranking position of trust as a public official and pursued lucrative bribes at the expense of school children, many of whom rely on healthy meals provided by the New York City Department of Education,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Peace said Goldstein “prioritized lining his pockets with payoffs from his co-defendants” to ensure that the defendants’ food stayed in the schools even after plastic, bones and metal were found in the chicken.
Messages seeking comment were sent to attorneys for Goldstein, Iler, Turley and Twomey.
Goldstein oversaw school food as head of New York City’s Office of School Support Services from 2008 to 2018. Iler, Twomey and Turley had a company, SOMMA Food Group, that contracted with the city to provide school food.
Around the same time, the three men and Goldstein formed another company to import grass-fed beef. Prosecutors argued that the venture was a way to pay Goldstein off.
Prosecutors said the largest bribe payment was made in the fall of 2016 after the city school system had stopped serving SOMMA’s chicken tenders because an employee had choked on a bone in a supposedly boneless chicken tender.
According to prosecutors, Iler, Turley and Twomey agreed on Nov 29, 2016, to pay a bribe Goldstein had asked for, and one day later Goldstein approved reintroducing SOMMA’s chicken products into the schools. SOMMA’s products were served in schools until April 2017 despite repeated complaints that the chicken tenders contained foreign objects, prosecutors said.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- To Protect the Ozone Layer and Slow Global Warming, Fertilizers Must Be Deployed More Efficiently, UN Says
- How the Fed got so powerful
- Eastwind Books, an anchor for the SF Bay Area's Asian community, shuts its doors
- How the Fed got so powerful
- Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
- 25 Cooling Products for People Who Are Always Hot
- Housing dilemma in resort towns
- You Don’t Need to Buy a Vowel to Enjoy Vanna White's Style Evolution
- Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
- Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky Address “Untrue” Divorce Rumors
Ranking
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 9 drawing: Jackpot rises to $92 million
- Why Bachelor Nation's Tayshia Adams Has Become More Private Since Her Split With Zac Clark
- Biden administration warns consumers to avoid medical credit cards
- How to fight a squatting goat
- Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's Son Moses Martin Reveals His Singing Talents at Concert
- The U.S. could run out of cash to pay its bills by June 1, Yellen warns Congress
- SVB, now First Republic: How it all started
- Biden administration warns consumers to avoid medical credit cards
Recommendation
-
Judge sets April trial date for Sarah Palin’s libel claim against The New York Times
-
In the Race for Pennsylvania’s Open U.S. Senate Seat, Candidates from Both Parties Support Fracking and Hardly Mention Climate Change
-
Adidas finally has a plan for its stockpile of Yeezy shoes
-
Light a Sparkler for These Stars Who Got Married on the 4th of July
-
Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for $35M
-
A new film explains how the smartphone market slipped through BlackBerry's hands
-
Every Time Margot Robbie Channeled Barbie IRL
-
He's trying to fix the IRS and has $80 billion to play with. This is his plan