Federal Prosecutor John P. MacCoon told jurors that corporate greed caused Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest meat producer and processor, to conspire to suppress its workers’ wages by smuggling illegal immigrants from Mexico to work in the company’s chicken plants in the United States. Tyson and six employees were indicted in December 2001 in the smuggling of 26 vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants into Tyson plants.

Lawyers for Tyson maintained that the company had done nothing wrong, and blamed any misconduct on a few “rogue employees” who hid their actions from senior management.

The government also accused Tyson of violating immigration laws by helping illegal immigrants to obtain false identification documents and by hiring a large number of immigrants from temporary employment agencies.

“This trial is about corporate greed,” said John P. MacCoon, an assistant United States attorney. “It’s about what happens when a corrupt corporate culture makes the bottom line the all-consuming priority.

(via New York Times)