Company to Plead Guilty in Deadly Corn Mill Explosion

Didion Milling Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to two federal criminal charges and pay a $1 million fine and $10.25 million in restitution to the estates of five workers who died in the 2017 explosion, according to a plea agreement filed late Wednesday in federal court in Madison, WI.

Didion Milling Inc. and six of its managers and superintendents, were charged in May 2022 in a nine-count criminal indictment for its alleged role in failing to ensure that work was done to safely handle highly combustible corn dust and in keeping deliberately false records before the May 31, 2017, explosion at the company's Cambria, WI corn mill.

According to the agreement, signed by Didion Milling CEO Riley Didion, the company agreed with prosecutors to plead guilty to two counts of making false entries in logbooks that were required by the EPA and OSHA, which were provided to investigators after the explosion. 

Last month, Didion Milling Inc. agreed to pay the fine to settle the lawsuit alleging multiple violations at the Cambria plant, where the fatal explosion occurred, Wisconsin State Justice Department officials announced.