Leader of sweeping organic food fraud gets 10-year term

摘要

A judge on Friday sentenced the mastermind of the largest-known organicfood fraud scheme in U.S. history to 10 years in prison, saying he cheatedthousands of customers into buying products they didn't want.U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams said Randy Constant orchestrated amassive fraud that did "extreme and incalculable damage" to consumersand shook public confidence in the nation's organic food industry.Williams said that, between 2010 and 2017, consumers nationwide werefooled into paying extra to buy products ranging from eggs to steak thatthey believed were better for the environment and their own health. Instead,they unwittingly purchased food that relied on farming practices, includingthe use of chemical pesticides to grow crops, that they opposed.