Pilgrim’s Pride CEO indicted in alleged chicken price-fixing scheme

DENVER — Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. CEO Jayson Penn was among four agribusiness executives indicted Thursday by a grand jury for the U.S. District Court in Denver on antitrust charges tied to allegations that major poultry producers conspired to fix broiler chicken prices. 

The single-count indictment also charges Pilgrim’s Pride vice president Roger Austin, Claxton Poultry president Mikell Fries and vice president Scott Brady.

“Particularly in times of global crisis, the division remains committed to prosecuting crimes intended to raise the prices Americans pay for food,” Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust…