US brothers plead guilty to 33 poisoned fruit deaths

Two brothers whose farm produced tainted cantaloupes that killed 33 people in the famed 2011 Listeria outbreak pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in court Tuesday. Eric Jensen, 37, and Ryan Jensen, 33, said the outbreak, that spread across 28 states hospitalizing 147 people, was a "terrible accident," and admitted to six counts of food alteration and other charges. Each faces up to five years in prison and 1.5 million dollars in fines. Another woman suffered a miscarriage, and several people died of other causes months after eating the contaminated cantaloupes. "The defendants have now admitted that they failed to protect the public from deadly bacteria on their cantaloupe, in violation of the law and critical (U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)) requirements," U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh said in a statement. In May 2011, the Jensens bought a new cleaning system for their southeastern Colorado farm operation, but a chlorine spray system, used to clean bacteria from the fruit, was never activated, according to prosecutors. "The defendants were aware that their cantaloupes could be contaminated with harmful bacteria if not sufficiently washed," the court agreement read. "The chlorine spray, if used, would have reduced the risk of microbial contamination of the fruit." "Their actions resulted in tragedy nationwide, and profound economic consequences for an entire industry," Walsh said, of one of the deadliest outbreaks of food-borne illness in U.S. history. The Jensen' s, attorney Forest Lewis responded: "They manned up and stepped up because it happened on their watch." Jansen Farms filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Sentencing is scheduled for January 28.