Eric and Ryan Jensen, ages 37 and 33, of the now-bankrupt Jensen Farms were arrested Thursday and each charged with six misdemeanor counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce.
The men appeared Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Denver and were released on a $100,000 unsecured bond. The Jensens each could face up to six years in prison and up to $1.5 million in fines if they are convicted of all six counts, prosecutors said.
Their trial is scheduled for Dec. 2.
The cantaloupe growers' farm is considered the source of a national listeria outbreak that killed at least 33 and sickened another 147 people in 2011, one of the country's most deadly outbreaks of food-borne illness, according to government investigators.
The lawyer who represents 46 families in several civil lawsuits against the farmers issued a statement on his website Wednesday saying he was pleased the U.S. Attorney's Office has recognized "that some form of criminal sanctions were appropriate against Jensen Farms." Lawyer Bill Marler of Seattle first urged the U.S. Attorney's Office to consider criminal charges last year.
Criminal charges in food poisoning cases are rare, Marler said Thursday. Only four other people have faced such charges in the past decade.
He noted that felony charges would have required prosecutors to show the contamination was intentional.
"The real significance of the case against the Jensens is they are being charged with misdemeanors, which do not require intent, just the fact that they shipped contaminated food using interstate commerce," he said.
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Colo. farmers arrested in listeria outbreak that killed 33
The men appeared Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Denver and were released on a $100,000 unsecured bond. The Jensens each could face up to six years in prison and up to $1.5 million in fines if they are convicted of all six counts, prosecutors said.
Their trial is scheduled for Dec. 2.
The cantaloupe growers' farm is considered the source of a national listeria outbreak that killed at least 33 and sickened another 147 people in 2011, one of the country's most deadly outbreaks of food-borne illness, according to government investigators.
The lawyer who represents 46 families in several civil lawsuits against the farmers issued a statement on his website Wednesday saying he was pleased the U.S. Attorney's Office has recognized "that some form of criminal sanctions were appropriate against Jensen Farms." Lawyer Bill Marler of Seattle first urged the U.S. Attorney's Office to consider criminal charges last year.
Criminal charges in food poisoning cases are rare, Marler said Thursday. Only four other people have faced such charges in the past decade.
He noted that felony charges would have required prosecutors to show the contamination was intentional.
"The real significance of the case against the Jensens is they are being charged with misdemeanors, which do not require intent, just the fact that they shipped contaminated food using interstate commerce," he said.
more
Colo. farmers arrested in listeria outbreak that killed 33