Couple gets probation in pet food case

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Las Vegas-based company and its owners have been sentenced to three years' probation for distributing a tainted ingredient used to make pet food.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas City say 43-year-old Sally Qing Miller and 57-year-old Stephen S. Miller also must pay a $5,000 fine, and their company, Chemnutra Inc., must pay $25,000.

The couple admitted importing from China more than 800 metric tons of wheat gluten tainted with melamine, an unsafe food additive, and sold it to companies in the pet food industry.

Thousands of cats and dogs reportedly became sick or died after eating the tainted food. The case resulted in the recall of more than 150 brands of doog and cat food across the country in 2007.

The court ruled Friday that the Millers won't have to pay further restitution because of a $24 million settlement in a related civil suit in New Jersey.