After serving 16 years behind bars, a Minnesota man was released from prison after a judge vacated his murder conviction for a crime prosecutors say he didn’t commit.

Minnesotan Edgar Barrientos-Quintana has been exonerated due to a "weak" investigation filled with misleading evidence.

Smithfield Foods, one of the nation’s largest meat processors, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations of child labor violations at a plant in Minnesota, officials announced Thursday. An investigation by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry found that the Smithfield Packaged Meats subsidiary employed at least 11 children at its plant in St.

The plant is the latest in a litany of southern Minnesota towns, from Madelia to Marshall to Worthington, to face allegations they illegally employed minors in meat-processing facilities.

Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation has agreed to pay a $2 million penalty over allegations of child labor violations at its facility in St. James. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) says it has entered into a consent order with Smithfield that requires the company to pay the largest penalty DLI has recovered in a child labor enforcement action.