U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 20217 / July 30, 2007

Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 2659 / July 30, 2007

SEC v. Dean A. Nichols, Civil Action No. 04-CV-641 (D.N.J.)

Court Issues Final Judgment by Consent Against Defendant Dean A. Nichols

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced today that on July 19, 2007, Judge Harold A. Ackerman of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a Final Judgment against Dean A. Nichols ("Nichols"), a certified public accountant who formerly served as a senior manager at a subsidiary of Performance Food Group Company ("PFG"), a large public company. The Final Judgment: (1) permanently enjoins Nichols from violating Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rules 10b-5 and 13b2-1 thereunder, and from aiding and abetting violations of Sections 13(a) and 13(b)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20 and 13a-13 thereunder; and (2) orders Nichols to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $25,000 under Section 21(d)(3) of the Exchange Act. Nichols consented to the entry of the Final Judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission's Complaint.

The Commission filed its action against Nichols in February 2004, alleging that, during 2000 and 2001, Nichols engaged in a fraudulent course of conduct in which he made numerous improper accounting journal entries on the books of AFI Foodservice Distributor, Inc., a subsidiary of PFG. Nichols= conduct caused PFG to overstate its income by a total of $3.8 million in the company=s Forms 10-Q filed with the Commission for the second and third quarters of 2000, and for the first and third quarters of 2001.

As part of the settlement, Nichols also agreed to the entry of a Commission Order suspending him from appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant.

For further information, please see Litigation Release Number 18578.

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20217.htm