John R. Tyson of Tyson Foods pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated (DWI) and lesser charges, following his arrest in June in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
According to a Bloomberg report, Tyson was also sentenced to pay a total of $960 in fines, and serve 32 hours of community service. As part of a plea deal, Tyson was able to avoid a sentence that would have called for 90 days in jail.
The court action follows a June 13 incident, when Tyson was arrested around 1:30 a.m. by the University of Arkansas Police Department. He was charged with DWI, careless driving and improperly making a U-turn.
At the time, Tyson was serving as chief financial officer (CFO) of Tyson Foods, but the company announced shortly thereafter that he had been suspended from that position, with Curt Calaway being named the interim CFO.
Tyson had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The company in late August officially named Calaway as CFO. At the same time, it announced that Tyson was still with Tyson Foods, but he was on “health-related leave.” The Tyson Foods leadership webpage lists the former CFO as an executive vice president.
Tyson, the son of Tyson Foods Chairman John H. Tyson and great-grandson of company founder John W. Tyson, was first named CFO of the company that bears his last name in September 2022, after having been the chief sustainability officer since September 2019.
Tyson’s arrest in June marks the second time he had been arrested in Fayetteville on alcohol-related charges.
On November 6, 2022, he was arrested, also in Fayetteville, after he had fallen asleep in the bed at the residence of a person he did not know. Eight days later, during a quarterly earnings call and subsequent media call, he said he was taking “full responsibility for his actions.”
He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges related to that 2022 incident, but in January 2023, pleaded guilty to public intoxication and criminal trespass. He was sentenced to pay $440 in fines and court costs.
Tyson Foods is the world's second largest poultry producer and ninth largest feed producer. It is also a major producer of pork, beef and turkey.
