StarKist will appear Wednesday, November 14, at the federal court in San Francisco for an arraignment and plea hearing for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of packaged seafood sold in the US, according to court records.
The US Justice Department had announced last month that StarKist has agreed to a guilty plea for its role and this was also confirmed by StarKist in its own statement. No date was given at the time as to when the defendant would appear in court.
A one-count felony charge accused StarKist and its co-conspirators of agreeing to fix the prices of canned tuna between November 2011 to December 2013. StarKist, which faces a criminal fine of up to US$100 million, has agreed to cooperate in the investigation conducted by a federal grand jury sitting in San Francisco.