Texas Manager Pleads Guilty to Pet Food Fraud, Company Pays $4.5 Million Restitution

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The manager of a Wilbur-Ellis Company processing facility in Texas pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy to sell adulterated ingredients to pet food manufacturers, for which the company has already paid more than $4.5 million in restitution.

William Douglas Haning, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Rodney Sippel in the Eastern District of Missouri to one count of conspiracy to introduce adulterated and/or misbranded food into interstate commerce and one count of money laundering.

“For years, William Douglas Haning orchestrated a scheme similar to charging filet mignon prices for ground beef. He unjustly lined his own pockets at the expense of unsuspecting consumers,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Alicia Corder of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Corporate fraud is one of the top white-collar crime priorities for the FBI.”

“U.S. consumers – and especially pet owners – look to the FDA to ensure that their pets’ food is not only safe and wholesome, but is also accurately labelled. When criminals introduce adulterated and falsely labelled pet food into the U.S. marketplace, they put the health of companion animals at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice food manufacturers who put profits ahead of the public health.”

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/texas-manager-pleads-guilty-pet-food-fraud-company-pays-45-million-restitution