SC chicken plant saboteur charged with DUI before self-reporting to prison
A South Carolina man who pleaded guilty to using an app to remotely release cleaning chemicals into a chicken plant was charged with a DUI only days after a judge sentenced him to prison.
William Jason Taylor, 52, charged with driving under the influence by the Clemson University Police on Nov. 8, just five days after a federal judge sentenced him to six months in prison.
Described as the disgruntled former employee of a company that managed remotely controlled cleaning solutions for industrial facilities, Taylor was allowed to remain free on bond following his sentencing. He was to self-report to a federal prison some time after Dec. 26, according to court records.
In addition to the six months in federal prison, senior U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie sentenced Taylor to two years of probation.
The day of Taylor’s arrest, Clemson University was playing Florida State at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium.
According to court records, the DUI was Taylor’s first charge and his blood alcohol content was less than 0.10 — in South Carolina the legal limit is 0.08.
Taylor was released on a $992 personal recognizance bond.
In 2020, Taylor, who had an associates degree in electrical engineering, was hired by ChemStation, an Ohio-based company provides industrial cleaning services to a range of manufacturing and meat packing facilities.
Three years later, Taylor was fired after a mistake he made led to a plant shutdown in Georgia. In August 2023, Taylor used a work app remaining on his phone to remotely access the cleaning chemical system at the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken processing plant in Sumter, South Carolina.
Over a two-week period Taylor repeatedly spiked the levels of cleaning chemicals used in chicken production, which “posed a potential health hazard” to workers at the plant, according to court records.
“He is remorseful, and he understands the impact of what he did,” Taylor’s attorney, Zach Farr, said in court.
Taylor’s conviction came almost exactly a year after his wife, Tammy Renee Taylor, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud connected to the theft of more than $200,000 from her employer, the My House Daycare center.
According to the indictment, Tammy Taylor used the daycare’s credit card and business account to pay for personal expenses such as hotels, meals, car payments, her cell phone bill, shopping and entertainment. She also paid herself bonuses and “miscellaneous compensation without authorization,” according to court records.
Tammy Taylor, 50, had begun working at the daycare as a teacher in 2018. In 2021, she was promoted to director and bookkeeper and began making unauthorized purchases and payments to herself.
“Mrs. Taylor understands what she did was wrong,” wrote Farr, who also represented Tammy Taylor, in a report prepared for the court. “Mrs .Taylor is very remorseful and never meant harm to the owner and/or the business.”
Tammy Taylor was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. She is expected to be released in February, 2026.