OTHER NEWS - May 23, 1996

Espy Probe Yields Indictment of Farmer: A Mississippi farmer and his son who allegedly received help from a one-time aide to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy were indicted on charges they fraudulently collected $777,000 in crop subsidies. The four-count indictment against Brook Keith Mitchell Sr., his son, Brook Keith Mitchell Jr., and their farming company is the first to come out of an independent counsel’s 20-month investigation of Espy. Espy resigned in December 1994 because of questions about his conduct, including favors from Tyson Foods and other agribusiness firms. The indictment alleges Espy’s chief of staff, Ron Blackley, intervened on behalf of the Mitchells, of Greenville, Miss., and their company, Five M Farming Enterprises, when some of their subsidy payments were denied. Both Mitchells declined comment.