Treatment of Bill Aossey is unfair

To the editor:

It was interesting to read that Jack and Peter DeCoster and their company, Quality Egg LLC, have been ordered to pay $6.9 million in fines to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cedar Rapids ('A lucrative year for C.R. federal prosecutor's office,” Dec. 28).

After all, their actions sickened at least 1,939 people, according to the Center for Disease Control, and may have sickened over 50,000 people. The article notes that the two individuals have been sentenced to jail, but it does not note that sentence is for only three months, and that they have not yet served any jail time.

This report contrasts sharply with the Dec. 24 Gazette article 'More prison time urged for Aossey”, which states that the same U.S. Attorney's Office is seeking a jail time of eight to 10 years for Bill Aossey, who was convicted on several counts in July relating to the misbranding of meat for export. To my knowledge, the U.S. Attorneys Office has not contended that anyone has been physically sickened as a result of Aossey's actions. Aossey already has spent over five months in jail, awaiting a sentencing hearing.

Although I am not privy to detailed information on either the DeCoster or the Aossey legal actions, it does appear that there is awful inequity, both in the light treatment of the DeCosters and the severe treatment of Aossey. That is even more ironic in that Jack DeCoster is notorious for his health and labor violations in Maine and Iowa, while Aossey has been a community benefactor. However, Aossey is a Muslim.

Ed Flaherty

Iowa City