Large U.S. poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride (Pilgrim’s) became the first company to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products, the Department of Justice announced today. The company has been sentenced to pay approximately $107.9 million in criminal fines. According to the plea agreement entered in the U.S. District Court in Denver, from as early as 2012 and continuing at least into 2017, Pilgrim’s participated in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition for sales of broiler chicken products in the U.S. that affected at least $361 million in Pilgrim’s sales of broiler chicken products.