For the third time in two years, Troutman Pepper attorneys successfully defended Scott Brady, national account salesman for Claxton Poultry, against antitrust charges when a Denver jury returned a verdict of not guilty finding there was no conspiracy among him and other poultry executives to fix prices in the sale of chicken to fast food restaurants and grocery stores. Two earlier trials resulted in mistrials because of hung juries.
“We are grateful to the jury, who after sitting through over a month of trial testimony and arguments, came back with a decision in a day and a half to acquit Scott and the other innocent executives,” said Bryan Lavine, partner at Troutman Pepper. “Scott and all the other defendants have maintained their innocence from day one, and the jury’s verdict has confirmed that fact. They have been vindicated. Scott can now go forward with his life. We’re proud to have played a part in enabling him to do that.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) accused five executives of participating in a scheme among the nation’s largest poultry producers to fix prices for the sale of chicken to restaurant chains and grocery stores, including, most notably, Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The case was part of a years-long investigation by the DOJ of alleged price-fixing among poultry companies, which began in 2016. After the second mistrial, the DOJ dropped half of the defendants and proceeded against Brady and four other defendants.
The Troutman Pepper team representing Mr. Brady included Bryan Lavine, Megan Rahman, LA Kuykendall, and Jhony Ospina, among others.