Owners of the Colorado cantaloupe farm linked to a listeria outbreak, which killed 33 people in 2011, were finally arrested and charged by the federal court on Thursday.
U.S. Attorney John Walsh stated that Eric Jensen, 37, and Ryan, 33, former owners of Jensen Farms in Granada, Colorado were both charged with six counts of “introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce.”
If proven guilty, the Jensen brothers will both face a maximum of one year imprisonment and up to $250,000 fines for every charge.
The Jensen brothers surrendered themselves to the police and appeared in front of a magistrate judge in Denver. Their attorneys pled “not guilty” on their behalf. The first trial will take place on Dec. 2. For the meantime, the judge allowed them to be released under a $100,000 secured bonds since they were fully cooperative of the investigations.
According to prosecutors, the brothers began rinsing their cantaloupe produce with equipment created to cleanse potatoes but failed to use chlorine spray feature that kills the deadly bacteria.
The federal prosecutors said in a statement, "The defendants were aware that their cantaloupes could be contaminated with harmful bacteria if not sufficiently washed. The chlorine spray, if used, would have reduced the risk of microbial contamination of the fruit."
Other than the people who died because of the contaminated cantaloupes, 147 people across 28 states were hospitalized and one woman had a miscarriage, said authorities.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this literia outbreak is the first involving cantaloupes as the infection is usually acquired from cheese and packaged meats.
Months after the contaminated cantaloupes from the Jensen Farms were delivered in the market, an increase in the number of listeria infections were reported by health officials in more than 24 states.
Bill Marler, a Seattle-based lawyer representing some of the families of people affected by the outbreak, told Reuters that he was "pleased that some form of criminal sanctions" were leveled against the Jensen Brothers. However, he still would like to pursue filing criminal charges against Wal-Mart and Kroger for selling the contaminated cantaloupes.
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