Crime Scenes

Rotten Tomato Kingpin Gets Six Years In The Slammer

There's one in every bunch...
There’s one in every bunch… Photo: Learning Lark/Flickr

Three years ago to the month, SK Foods’ former CEO and owner Frederick Scott Salyer was arrested for leading a widespread racket in the world of California tomatoes. The charges accused the mogul of fixing prices, bribing stores to accept moldy fruit, and rigging bids as his company rose through the ranks to become the industry’s second biggest, while major grocery chains and snack food megaliths like Frito-Lay and Kraft were also caught up in the misdeeds. Last March, the 57-year-old Salyer plead guilty to the charges and faced a possible sentence of four to twenty years in the pokey, giving up millions from overseas bank accounts and holing up in his Pebble Beach home. The L.A. Times reports that the crooked tomato kingpin has been hit with six years in prison yesterday for his crimes, which lead to the convictions of ten other employees. A U.S. attorney for the case says, “[Salyer] turned his company into a machine of corruption and economic crime,” breaches that helped spike the price of tomatoes for everyday customers.

Tomato company owner gets 6 years in prison for price-fixing [LAT]

Rotten Tomato Kingpin Gets Six Years In The Slammer