A North Carolina family-owned and operated farming company wanted to employ a former principal of a company sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture badly enough that it paid a hefty surety bond.
Lancaster Farms LLC, based in Wilson, N.C., posted a $50,000 surety bond with the USDA so John Fowler, one-time officer of First Fruits Holdings LLC in Wake Forest, N.C., could work for them. The surety bond was required under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, following USDA sanctions against First Fruits Holdings after it was "found to have committed repeated and flagrant violations of Section 2 of the PACA," a Feb. 7 USDA news release said.
John Fowler
| linkedin.com/in/tracy-fowler-b0487a4/
"Any PACA licensee wishing to employ individuals who have failed to pay a reparation award, or have been subject to a USDA disciplinary action, must post a USDA approved surety bond," the release said. "USDA will hold the $50,000 surety bond for four years, effective Dec. 29, 2021, providing assurance to the industry that the firm will be able to pay for produce purchased and to conduct its business according to PACA rules."
In November 2020, First Fruits Holdings, working as Four Rivers Onion Packing, was sanctioned by the USDA for allegedly failing to pay more than $363,000 to five sellers for produce the company agreed to purchase from November 2016 to July 2018. Failure to pay sellers is a PACA violation, and First Fruits Holdings was not allowed to operate in the produce industry until late October, "and then only after they apply for and are issued a new PACA license by USDA," USDA said in its news release at the time.
First Fruits Holdings, as Four Rivers Onion Packing, filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2018.
Fowler, along with Mark Black and Sean Swanson, were listed as principals at First Fruits Holdings at the time of the USDA sanction. They could not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee until October 2021, "and then only with the posting of a USDA approved surety bond," the earlier news release said.
Fowler has been an international and domestic sales director for Lancaster Farms since November 2017, according to information on his LinkedIn page. Lancaster Farms is a seventh-generation family operation that produces watermelon, sweet potatoes and peanuts on properties in Wilson, Pitt, Green, Lenoir, Wayne and Edgecombe counties in eastern North Carolina, according to information on its website.
Anyone who would like more information about the surety bond paid by Lancaster Farms can email USDA Investigative Enforcement Branch Chief Corey Elliott at PACAInvestigations@usda.gov, or call 202-720-6873.
