Jensens expected to plead guilty
Jensens expected to plead guilty
Eric and Ryan Jensen are expected to enter a plea of guilty in connection with six misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Documents to this effect were filed separately Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in Denver by the attorneys representing each of the brothers.
A hearing for a formal change of plea will be held on Oct. 22.
Each plaintiff may each face up to one-year prison sentences and a fine of $250,000 per charge. The terms of the plea agreement are not expected to be made public until the hearing date.
The brothers, ages 37 and 33, respectively, were the owners and operators of the now-defunct Jensen Farms, a cantaloupe farm in Granada, CO, directly connected to a 2011 outbreak of Listeria that killed 33 people and sickened another 147 people in the United States.
Legal proceedings against the brothers ramped up on Sept. 26, the date upon which the Jensens were taken into custody by U.S. marshals. The arrests followed the filing of formal charges by the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver in conjunction with the Food & Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigation and U.S. Attorney John Walsh.
According to court documents, "the cantaloupe was prepared, packed and held under conditions which rendered it injurious to health." A total of six shipments containing tainted cantaloupe were sent to 28 states.