A Kiel man has been arrested and charged with placing foreign objects into food at the Johnsonville Sausage plant where he worked.
Jonathan Tilman Lane, from Kiel, was arrested and appeared in federal court in Milwaukee to face charges of tampering with a consumer product, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Prosecutors say that on two separate occasions during March 25 and 28, 2018, Lane, an employee at Johnsonville Sausage, placed foreign objects into sausage links.
Video surveillance showed that on March 25, 2018, Lane placed a cigarette paper in a sausage link and on March 28, 2018, Lane placed a wire connector in a sausage link while the items were on the processing line, according to a criminal complaint.
Both times, the items were removed before the sausage links were packaged. Due to the public risk of Lane’s behavior, Johnsonville closed down the operation and discarded all products that they believed could have been affected.
Lane is charged with two counts of tampering with a consumer product and acting with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily harm and manifesting an extreme disregard to such a risk.
Lane faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to 3 years of supervised release on each count, according to the news release.
According to a representative of Johnsonville, none of the tampered products left their facilities.
For more go to WKOW: http://www.wkow.com/story/38343089/2018/06/04/johnsonville-plant-employee-accused-of-putting-objects-into-sausage-links