Editing Mark Whitacre (section)

==Legal issues==

=== ADM price-fixing ===
{{See also|Lysine price-fixing conspiracy}}
In 1992, during an ADM-initiated investigation of corporate espionage and sabotage, Whitacre informed an [[FBI]] agent that he and other ADM executives were involved in an illegal multinational [[lysine]] price-fixing scheme.<ref name="Wilson"/><ref name="CPR">{{Citation|last= CPR |title=The Fix Is In |work=Chicago Public Radio |date= September 18, 2009 |url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=168 }}</ref> Whitacre's wife pressured him into becoming a whistleblower after she threatened to go to the FBI herself.<ref>{{Harvnb|Eichenwald|2000|loc=page 49}}</ref>

Over the next three years, Whitacre worked with FBI agents to collect information and record conversations with both ADM executives and its competitors.<ref name="Henkoff"/> ADM ultimately settled federal charges for more than $100&nbsp;million and paid hundreds of millions of dollars more to plaintiffs and customers ($400&nbsp;million alone on a [[high-fructose corn syrup]] [[class action]] case).<ref name="Wilson">{{Citation |author= Wilson, J.K. |title= Price-Fixer to the World |publisher= [[Bankrate]] |date= December 21, 2000 |url= http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/20001221c.asp?prodtype=grn |access-date= September 20, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100329042753/http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/20001221c.asp?prodtype=grn |archive-date= March 29, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Greenwald|Donnelly|McWhirter|1996}}<ref>{{cite press release |title=Archer Daniels Settles Suit Accusing it of Price Fixing |publisher=[[Kaplan Fox]]|last=Manor|first=Robert|date=July 19, 2004 |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-06-19/business/0406190182_1_lysine-and-citric-acid-mark-whitacre-corn-syrup |access-date=September 20, 2009 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704065804/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-06-19/business/0406190182_1_lysine-and-citric-acid-mark-whitacre-corn-syrup |archive-date=July 4, 2015}}</ref>

===Whitacre embezzlement===
A few years into the price-fixing investigation, Whitacre confessed to his FBI handlers that he had been involved with corporate [[Kickback (bribery)|kickback]]s and [[money laundering]] at ADM.<ref name="Henkoff"/> Whitacre was later convicted of embezzling $9&nbsp;million; some of this criminal activity occurred during the time he was cooperating with the FBI.<ref name="DOJ">{{cite press release |title= Former ADM Executive Pleads Guilty to Fraud |publisher= [[United States Department of Justice]] |date= October 10, 1997 |url= http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/October97/425crm.html |access-date= September 20, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090530212244/http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/October97/425crm.html |archive-date= May 30, 2009|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="AP">{{Harvnb|''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|1996 |url= http://lubbockonline.com/stories/070698/0706980006.shtml |access-date= 2009-09-20 |url-status= dead}}</ref>

===Sentencing and release===
Whitacre pled guilty to tax evasion and fraud and was sent to prison on March 4, 1998.<ref name="DOJ"/> Although some officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice opposed the length of the penalty, Whitacre was sentenced to nine years in Federal prison.<ref name="Mokhiber">{{Citation|last1=Mokhiber |first1=Russell|last2=Weissman|first2=Robert|title=Rats in the Grain|date=August 8, 2000|newspaper=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter]] |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views/080800-101.htm|access-date=September 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901044939/http://www.commondreams.org/views/080800-101.htm|archive-date=September 1, 2009|url-status=dead}}<br/>{{cite web |work=AlterNet |first1=Russell |last1=Mokhiber |first2=Robert |last2=Weissman |title=CORPORATE FOCUS: Winking at Corporate Fraud |date=August 8, 2000 |url=http://www.alternet.org/story/9583/|access-date=August 17, 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214093921/http://www.alternet.org/story/9583/|archive-date=February 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Krebs|first=A.V.|title=Must reading|date=August 16, 2000 |url=http://www.populist.com/00.16.krebs.html|journal=[[The Progressive Populist]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208113158/http://www.populist.com/00.16.krebs.html|publisher=Ampersand Publishing Co.|archive-date=February 8, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2006, he was released on good behavior after serving eight and a half years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://moneyinc.com/what-is-former-whistleblower-mark-whitacre-up-to-today/ |title=What is Former Whistleblower Mark Whitacre Up to Today?|last=Parker|first=Garrett|date=May 29, 2019|website=Money Inc|language=en-US|access-date=March 10, 2020}}</ref>

===Differing perspectives===

==== Kurt Eichenwald ====
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?160555-1/informant-true-story-part-1 Part One of ''Booknotes'' interview with Kurt Eichenwald  on ''The Informant'', February 4, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?160555-2/informant-true-story-part-2 Part Two of ''Booknotes'' interview, February 11, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]}}
In his 2000 book, ''[[The Informant (book)|The Informant]]'', [[Kurt Eichenwald]], a former ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporter, portrays Whitacre as a complex figure: while working for the FBI as one of the best and most effective undercover cooperating witnesses the U.S. government ever had, Whitacre was simultaneously committing a $9&nbsp;million [[white-collar crime]].{{sfn|Eichenwald|2000|p=546-550}} According to Eichenwald, preceding the investigation Whitacre was scammed by a group in Nigeria in an [[advance fee fraud]], and suggests that Whitacre's losses in the scam may have been the initial reason behind his embezzlement activity at ADM.{{sfn|Lieber|2000|p=518}}

Eichenwald writes that Whitacre lied and became delusional in a failed attempt to save himself, making the FBI investigation much more difficult.{{sfn|Eichenwald|2000|p=482}} ''The Informant'' details Whitacre's bizarre behavior, including Whitacre cracking under pressure, increasing his mania, telling the media that FBI agents tried to force him to destroy tapes (a story that Whitacre later recanted), and attempting suicide.{{sfn|Eichenwald|2000|p=546}} Two doctors later diagnosed Whitacre as suffering from [[bipolar disorder]]. Eichenwald concludes that Whitacre's sentence was unjust because of his mental instability at the time.<ref name="Webber">{{Citation |last= Webber |first= Susan |title= Tale of the Tapes |publisher= Aurora Advisors Newsletter |date= September 25, 2000 |url= http://www.auroraadvisors.com/articles/2000-09_dailydeal.html |url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081006125306/http://www.auroraadvisors.com/articles/2000-09_dailydeal.html |archive-date= October 6, 2008 }}</ref>

Eichenwald, two [[prosecutors]], an FBI agent, and Mark Whitacre (during his incarceration) were featured on a September 15, 2000, episode of the radio program ''[[This American Life]]'' about the ADM case.<ref name="TAL">{{Harvnb|Glass|2000}}</ref> Eichenwald referred to Whitacre's sentence as "excessive and a law enforcement failure" because Whitacre never received credit for his substantial cooperation in assisting the government with the massive price-fixing case.<ref name="TAL"/>

==== Feature film ====
''[[The Informant!]]'' is a [[Warner Bros.]] feature film released on September 18, 2009. Produced by [[Jennifer Fox (film producer)|Jennifer Fox]] and directed by [[Steven Soderbergh]], the [[dark comedy]]/[[drama]] film stars [[Matt Damon]] as Whitacre. The screenplay by [[Scott Z. Burns]] is based on Kurt Eichenwald's book, ''The Informant'', with most of the filming done in Central Illinois (Blue Mound, Springfield, [[Moweaqua, Illinois|Moweaqua]] and Decatur).<ref name="Cain"/> In the movie, the character of Whitacre is portrayed as exhibiting bizarre behavior, including delusions, mania, and compulsively lying. It was eventually learned that Whitacre was suffering from bipolar disorder.<ref name="Cain"/>

====James B. Lieber====
In his 2000 book, ''Rats In The Grain'', attorney James B. Lieber focuses on ADM's price-fixing trial and presents Whitacre as an American hero overpowered by ADM's vast political clout.<ref name="Mokhiber"/> ''Rats In The Grain'' presents evidence that the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] often subjugated itself to ADM's political power and well-connected attorneys in prosecuting Whitacre.

Lieber reveals that, in 1996, "ADM CEO, Mr. [[Dwayne Andreas]], told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' that he had known about Whitacre's frauds for three years" and speculates that Whitacre was fired and turned over to the Federal authorities only after ADM learned he had been working as an FBI [[Mole (espionage)|mole]]. If he knew about Whitacre's embezzlement for three years, Lieber asks, why didn't Andreas fire Whitacre immediately? Lieber surmises: "There were only two logical explanations for Andreas' behavior: either he did not think the funds were stolen (in other words, they were approved) or he didn't care."{{sfn|Lieber|2000|p={{Page needed|date=September 2009}}}}

Based on the fact that other ADM executives committed crimes such as financial fraud by a former treasurer and technology thefts by others, Lieber concludes that fraud was well-known and widespread at ADM during the 1990s.<ref name="Mokhiber"/> Lieber suggests that ADM would have not turned Whitacre over to the authorities if he had not been a mole for the FBI.<ref name="AP"/>

Like Eichenwald, Lieber concludes that Whitacre's lengthy prison sentence was excessive and unjust when one takes into account Whitacre's cooperation in the much larger price-fixing case.<ref name="Webber"/><ref name="Whitaker">{{Citation |last= Whitaker |first= Leslie |title= Supermarket for Scandal |periodical= The Pennsylvania Gazette |date= October 30, 2000 |url= http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1100/1100books.html |url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070206164101/http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1100/1100books.html |archive-date= February 6, 2007 }}</ref>

Lieber also poses this question: "Where will the government obtain the next Mark Whitacre after potential whistleblowers observe how Whitacre was treated?"{{sfn|Lieber|2000|p={{Page needed|date=September 2009}}}}

===Clemency and pardon support===
Appeals for Whitacre's full pardon or [[clemency]] to the White House were supported by several current and former justice department officials: Dean Paisley, a retired 25-year veteran and former FBI supervisor on the price-fixing case; two other FBI agents involved with the case; a former [[Attorney General of the United States]]; one of the former Asst. U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted Whitacre; two prosecutors from the [[Department of Justice (Canada)|Canadian Department of Justice]]; several [[United States Senate|Senators]] and [[United States House of Representatives|Congressmen]]; Cornell University and Ohio State University professors; Major League Baseball Hall of Famer [[Harmon Killebrew]]; [[Chuck Colson]]; and numerous top executives of corporations.<ref name="Clemency"/><ref name="Guebert">{{Harvnb|Guebert|2007}}</ref><ref name="England">{{Harvnb|England|2009}}</ref>

In 2008, more than ten years after the original conviction, Paisley and two other FBI agents went public with praise for Whitacre. Paisley concluded that "Whitacre's fraud case was minuscule as compared to the ADM case Whitacre cooperated with."<ref name="Clemency"/><ref name="Muirhead"/><ref name="Cain">{{cite news | url=http://herald-review.com/news/local/article_3526d361-9cea-509a-994a-3ed48fc44e88.html | work=Decatur Herald | first=Tim | last=Cain | title=Behind the inside man: Mark Whitacre, talks about 'The Informant', his time in prison and moving forward | date=April 6, 2008 | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403181715/http://www.herald-review.com/news/local/article_3526d361-9cea-509a-994a-3ed48fc44e88.html | archive-date=April 3, 2012 }}</ref> "Had it not been for the fraud conviction," Paisley said, "he would be a national hero. Well, he is a national hero."<ref name="Muirhead"/><ref name="Cain"/><ref name="England"/><ref name="Sidhu"/> Paisley added, "Without him, the biggest antitrust case we've ever had would not have been."<ref name="Muirhead"/><ref name="Cain"/><ref name="Sidhu">{{Citation |author=Sidhu, Roopam |title= Fresno company linked to Matt Damon movie |publisher=CBS TV 47 Fresno |date= July 23, 2008}}{{YouTube|r7c-e_9thlk}}</ref> On August 4, 2010, in a [[Discovery Channel]] documentary, ''Undercover: Operation Harvest King'', several FBI agents stated that "Whitacre got a raw deal."<ref name="Discovery Channel">{{Harvnb|Discovery Channel|2009}}</ref> In addition, official letters from the FBI in support of a Whitacre pardon were published in Floyd Perry's September 2009 book, ''Mark Whitacre: Against All Odds.''{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

===Discovery Channel TV documentary===
A [[Discovery Channel]] TV documentary titled ''Undercover: Operation Harvest King'', which documents Mark Whitacre's role in the ADM price fixing case, aired several times during 2009 and 2010. Discovery Channel interviewed the three FBI agents who handled the Mark Whitacre/ADM case (i.e., Dean Paisley, Brian Shepard and Robert Herndon), along with Mark and Ginger Whitacre.<ref name="Discovery Channel" /><ref name="Undercover">{{cite news | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNLrR0qkMR8 | work=Investigation Discovery | first=Alison | last=Lefevre | title=Undercover: Operation Harvest King | date=August 4, 2010 | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914173826/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNLrR0qkMR8 | archive-date=September 14, 2015 }}</ref>