The grain-elevator company where a teenager died after suffocating in a pile of grain two years ago is expected to plead guilty next week to a criminal charge of aiding and abetting and workplace-safety violations.
Representatives of Tempel Grain Elevators, based in Wiley, are expected to appear in U.S. District Court at 10 a.m. Aug. 5 for a change-of-plea hearing and immediate sentencing, according to court records.
John Richilano, an attorney for Tempel Grain, said after the charge was filed Tuesday that the company was in “the final stages of reaching an agreement with the government.” Richilano could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined to release the details of the agreement before next week’s sentencing.
The charge carries up to a $500,000 fine, but other terms could be determined by a judge and the probation department.
Cody Rigsby, 17, died at a grain elevator Tempel Grain operated in Haswell in Kiowa County. On May 29, 2009, he climbed a ladder and entered a grain bin, where the grain continued to flow and engulfed him, suffocating him, according to court documents. Liz Navratil, The Denver Post
