Crab Meat Processor Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Sell Mislabeled Foreign Crab as US Product
Michael Casey of Virginia, vice president for marketing and operations of Casey’s Seafood, pleaded guilty July 18 to participating in a scheme to sell crab meat from Asia and South America mislabled as a "Product of USA," the Department of…
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Justice said in a July 18 news release. "As part of the plea, Michael Casey admitted to knowing that Casey’s Seafood employees were directed to unpack foreign crab meat from containers and re-package that meat into containers bearing the company name and which were labeled 'Product of USA,' falsely labeling more than 183 tons of crab meat, which was then sold to grocery stores and independent retailers,” DOJ said. Casey's father James, who owns the wholesale seafood processing company, was previously convicted as part of the scheme. "Casey also admitted to aiding and abetting James Casey in selling at least 367,765 pounds of crab meat falsely labeled 'Product of USA,' with a total wholesale value of approximately $4,324,916," DOJ said. The scheme continued from "at least as early as 2010" through mid-June 2015, supplementing any Atlantic blue crab the company processed with foreign crab meat in order to fill customer orders while domestic crab harvests were in decline. Crab meat from "Indonesia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Central and South America" was used in the scheme.