In a plea bargain, government attorneys agreed to drop felony fraud charges against the retired former CEO of Blue Bell Creameries LP over the Listeria outbreak that killed three people in 2015 . In exchange, 68-year-old Paul Kruse pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of food safety violations and agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.
Kruse doesn’t need to be jailed. He said he was grateful to “all his friends and family, especially the Blue Bell family for supporting me during this difficult time.” said.
“This settlement confirms what Mr. Kruse said from the beginning, that no one at Bluebell intended to deceive their customers. ‘s Chris Flodd said Wednesday.
The bottom line is that the plea bargain has superseded the need for a second jury trial, which was due to begin on April 10, and all fraud and conspiracy felonies that were first tried by jury last year will be subject to the new misdemeanor. The jury was split 10 to 2 in Kruse’s favor.
On August 15, 2022, U.S. Judge Robert Pittman declared not guilty after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Until recently, the government was keen to proceed with his second trial. The final docket call was set for March 31st.
While sealed, the petition appears to wipe it all out. increase.
The government’s misdemeanor filing adds some details to the sealed plea bargain. it says:
“In connection with this information, defendant Paul Kruse has always been the president and chief executive officer of Blue Bell Creameries (“Blue Bell”) and worked from the company’s headquarters in Blenheim, Texas. I was. All Blue Bell sales, marketing, quality and other departments reported to Paul Kruse.
count 1-21 USC §§ 331(a) and 333(a)(1) (Introduction of adulterated goods into interstate commerce)
Between or about January 1, 2015 and or about March 13, 2015, in the Western District of Texas, defendant Paul Kruse was turned over for introduction into interstate commerce from Blenheim, Texas. was In Lexington, South Carolina, Wichita, Kansas, and elsewhere outside of Texas, adulterated food, i.e., ice cream products: in that it contained a substance, namely Listeria monocytogenes, made food unhealthy. (ii) was prepared, packed, and stored under conditions likely to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes within the meaning of Title 21, United States Code, Section 342(a)(4); All were in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(a) and 333(a)(1).
Each dismissed felony threatened Kruse with 20 years in prison, but a plea bargain removed that threat from Kruse for the first time since his 2020 indictment.
Kruse was accused of conspiracy and fraud for covering up some information about the 2015 listeriosis outbreak. Ten people fell ill and three died.
The 10 confirmed cases were from four states: Arizona (1), Kansas (5), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (3). Both required hospitalization.
During the 60-plus day crisis in 2015, Kruse eventually recalled all Blue Bell products and closed production facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama.
But Kruse didn’t act as quickly as government prosecutors said disclosure of the listeriosis problem had been withheld from customers and the public for too long.
Through a “retrospective review,” the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found isolates collected from bluebell ice cream consistent with outbreaks from 2010 to 2014.
This historical Pulsenet data of DNA “fingerprints”. All occurred before Bluebell learned of the outbreak in early 2015, including her three previous deaths in Kansas that were caused by listeriosis.
A federal grand jury indicted Kruse in 2020 after a five-year investigation.
The Western District Court, based in Austin, Texas, ruled that U.S. v. Kruse is a “complex criminal case.”
Governments rarely walk away empty-handed.
As a business entity, Blue Bell pleaded guilty in 2020 to two related lawsuits for distributing adulterated products in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The company has raised $17.5 million and $21 million total to settle false claims statute claims related to ice cream products manufactured under unsanitary conditions and sold to facilities, including four federal facilities, including the military. agreed to pay criminal penalties. At the time, his total of $19.35 million in fines, forfeitures and civil settlements was the second highest ever paid to resolve a food safety issue.
Kruse was the only individual to face criminal charges related to the 2015 outbreak.
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