The government denies all allegations of fraud against the former CEO of Blue Bell Creameries.

Branham, Texas – On Wednesday, the US government agreed to drop all fraud charges against former Blue Bell CEO Paul Kruse, with the parties instead agreeing to a fine for the wrongdoing.

“The settlement confirms what Mr. Cruz has always said: no one at Blue Bell ever intended to deceive their customers, and we are pleased that the government has come to the same conclusion,” said Chris Flood, Cruz’s lawyer. “This is the correct result; during last year’s trial, it became clear that the government was dragging its feet on the case.

Kruse agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S. Code § 331(a)) for being the chief executive officer of a company in the manufacture of a contaminated product. He also agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.

Fraud charges carry up to 20 years in prison for each count.

The offense under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act does not require proof of intent or knowledge of the tainted product, and is known as a “strict liability offence”.

Violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is the same charge the company pleaded guilty to in 2020.

“I am grateful to all my friends and family, especially the Blue Bell family, who supported me during this difficult time,” Kruse said. “It’s been a long road to get here, but I’m so glad I stood up for what was right.”

What’s happened?

In 2010, a Blue Bell Quality Assurance Officer arranged a meeting with other Blue Bell employees and facility management to discuss “condensation and (roof) leak issues at facilities” discovered during site inspections. government agencies. Cruz was aware of these problems, officials said, but he and Blue Bell were unable to fix roof leaks, condensation problems and other sanitary conditions that persisted at the Brenham sites and the Broken Arrow plant until 2015.

In 2011, Blue Bell’s quality control officer created a program to periodically test Blue Bell’s finished products for high E. coli results, which are used as an indicator of the sanitation of manufacturing facilities. According to court documents, Cruz was notified of the alleged positive liter test and ordered Blue Bell’s Quality Control department to stop further testing and instructed another member of Blue Bell’s Quality Control department to destroy paper copies and electronic records of the results that were believed to be positive. product test.

In March 2015, the FDA conducted a trial on one of Blue Bell’s ice creams that linked a strain of Listeria to five Kansas patients hospitalized with Listeria as a result of eating contaminated food. The same month, the FDA, CDC, and Blue Bell released public recall notices March 13, 2015, Oklahoma.

A total of 10 people have been hospitalized with listeriosis associated with this outbreak, according to the CDC. Cases have been reported in the following states: one person in Arizona, five in Kansas, one in Oklahoma and three in Texas. Three people in Kansas who contracted listeriosis have died.

“This agreement demonstrates the commitment of the US Department of Defense Criminal Investigation Service and our partners in law enforcement to hold companies accountable for failure to comply with important contractual requirements,” said Robert E. Craig, Jr., special agent in charge of the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office. . “This case was of particular concern because of the failure to follow basic food safety rules and the impact such actions can have on the health and safety of DoD military personnel and their families.”

Where is the company in the process of restructuring now?

Blue Bell was forced to temporarily close all of its factories in April 2015 to clean up and upgrade facilities. Since reopening its facilities in late 2015, Blue Bell said it has taken significant steps to improve disinfection processes and conduct a pre-shipment testing program for listeriosis products.

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Former Blue Bell chairman faces 7 felonies, including conspiracy, during the 2015 Listeria outbreak.

Felony charges against the former CEO of Blue Bell Creameries dropped following a 2015 listeria outbreak.

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