BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A former executive of a Birmingham-based food company has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to overcharge the federal government for fruits and vegetables.
Al.com reports David Andrew Kirkland, the ex-purchasing director of Adams Produce Company, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court. He was also ordered to pay, along with several co-defendants, $481,000 in restitution to the federal Defense Supply Center.
Kirkland is among five men charged in what federal authorities say was a scheme to make the federal government pay inflated prices for fruits and vegetables by creating false records that showed a higher purchase cost for the food.
Adams Produce shut down and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012. The company had operated since 1903.
