Tyson Foods Fined $4 Million in Espy Probe

Tyson Foods Inc. will pay $4 million in fines and must meet terms of four years’ probation or risk losing government business following its guilty plea to giving former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy $12,000 in favors. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington also directed that the Arkansas-based poultry producer pay $2 million to cover the costs of an investigation by independent counsel Donald C. Smaltz. Tyson pleaded guilty last month to giving Espy tickets worth $2,271 to a 1994 National Football League playoff game, a $1,200 scholarship for Espy’s girlfriend, air fare worth $2,556 for Espy and his girlfriend to attend an Arkansas party and tickets worth $6,000 to President Clinton’s first inaugural dinner. As part of the deal, the Agriculture Department agreed not to bar Tyson from selling its products to schools and military bases. The No. 1 poultry processor sold food worth $10.5 million to the Defense Department alone in 1996. But Urbina said that if the company fails to live up to the terms of its four-year probation, he might prevent it from doing business with the government in the future.