TRIAL OF FORMER BLUE BELL PRESIDENT AGAIN DELAYED

  

The trial of former Blue Bell President Paul Kruse has again been delayed and is now set to begin jury selection August 1st of this year.  Kruse is facing Federal felony charges of conspiracy and fraud since October 2020.  The charges relate to the Listeria outbreak in 2015 that sicken 10 and killed 3 people.  This past year, his defense attorneys asked to delay the trial to 2022 because of their obligations for other clients.

Blue Bell itself plead guilty in a related case in 2020 to two counts of distributing adulterated food products in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The company agreed to pay criminal penalties totaling $19.35 million.  The total was the second-largest amount ever paid in the resolution of a food safety matter.

Paul Kruse is the only Blue Bell Executive facing Federal criminal charges as a result of the 2015 outbreak.