Blakely peanut defendants plead not guilty
Thomas Ledford, the attorney for Mary Wilkerson, carries a box out of the C.B. King Federal Courthouse Thursday morning following an initial appearance and arraignment.
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J.D. Sumner
ALBANY, Ga. — All four defendants indicted in connection with a Blakely peanut processing facility that prosecutors contend sickened hundreds and killed nine people by spreading salmonella bacteria entered not guilty pleas before a U.S. magistrate on Thursday.
Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell, Samuel Lightsey and Mary Wilkerson each entered the pleas before Magistrate Thomas Langstaff in response to a 76-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury. Thursday