... (continues) ...

Provide your email address to read the rest of this story now... Enter your email address to get INSTANT access to the full article:   You'll also receive full access to all 25,000+ articles on NaturalNews.com plus: Over 20 free, downloadable reports Exclusive interviews with top naturopathic practitioners Free instant access to all the summaries of the industry's top health books offered at HealthBookSummaries.com (If you've already registered, just enter your email address again to access the full article.) Unsubscribe at any time. We NEVER send spam. Your e-mail privacy is 100% protected! Praise for NaturalNews and Mike Adams: "Mike Adams is the best health and natural products writer on the scene today." - Ronnie Cummins, founder, Organic Consumers Association (www.OrganicConsumers.org) "I wish that more people had the level of intensity that Mr. Mike Adams has to get the knowledge in our hands and help us get healthy and stay healthy. I have recommended ALL my friends to sign up for this important newsletter." - Dr. Jack Singh, founder, the Organic Food Bar Company "I'm so impressed with the work that you're doing and the information you're disseminating, it's just vital for people to get this sort of information." - Michael T. Murray, author of The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods and The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine "Mike Adams has one of the best websites on the Internet. His articles, podcasts and books will improve your life, and possibly save it. As a journalist he is relentless in his questioning, always asking insightful questions to expose the truth. Masterful!" - Suzy Cohen, R.Ph., Author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist (www.DearPharmacist.com)

Crawford's attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said that under a plea agreement, her client would not dispute the government's charges, and would likely face fines and a possible prison term of up to two years.

"At the end of the day, he owned these stocks and he will admit he owned them while he was at the FDA and he will take responsibility for that," Van Gelder said.

The Justice Department found that Crawford and his wife owned stock in Pepsico Inc., Sysco Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other companies regulated by the FDA. At one point, Crawford -- who owned at least $140,000 of stock in soda maker Pepsico and food distributor Sysco -- acted as chairman of an FDA panel charged with studying the obesity problem. Crawford's decision on that panel would have affected both companies.

The court papers also charge that Crawford did not disclose his income from exercising stock options in agricultural biotechnology company Embrex Inc., for which he had been a member of the board of directors.

Crawford -- a food safety expert and veterinarian -- unexpectedly resigned from his position as head of the FDA in September 2005 without giving reason. He'd officially held the position for two months, though he had been acting head of the agency for more than a year.

FDA critic Mike Adams, author of "Grocery Warning," calls the FDA a "criminal organization" and claims it puts pharmaceutical and food industry profits ahead of public safety. Adams called the charges against Crawford "yet another serious blow to the illusion of FDA credibility.

"Crawford's guilty plea now establishes as indisputable fact what myself and other FDA critics have been saying for years: The agency is headed by white-collar criminals who deliberately make regulatory decisions that are in the best interests of drug companies and junk food giants, rather than protecting the health of the public," Adams said.

###