Saw No Hurt in Gifts to Espy, Grower Says

Sun-Diamond Growers saw nothing wrong with its lobbyist squiring former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy to dinners, paying for limousine rides or giving him gifts such as a Waterford crystal bowl, former company president Larry Busboom testified at Espy’s corruption trial. “I didn’t find that unusual” and did not know such perks could be illegal under rules about gifts to public employees, Busboom testified. Espy is accused of accepting about $35,000 in illegal gifts from companies such as Sun-Diamond that had business before his department.