Didion Officials Get Prison Time for Lying After Fatal Explosion

A federal judge in Wisconsin sentenced two Didion Milling Inc. officials to two years each in federal prison for lying to two government agencies during an investigation of a 2017 fatal grain dust explosion that killed five employees and injured more than a dozen workers.

The sentences are among the strongest imposed on company officials for cases involving worker deaths where the US Justice Department can prove that officials lied to Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators.

A criminal violation of an OSHA rule is a federal misdemeanor and typically results in probation or a short prison sentence. However, lying ...