PAUL KRUSE CASE ENDS IN MISTRIAL

  

A mistrial has been declared in the case of former Blue Bell Creameries president and CEO Paul Kruse.

The 12-person jury announced on Monday that after deliberating for four days, a unanimous decision could not be reached on whether to convict or acquit Kruse on federal charges of conspiracy and fraud in relation to Blue Bell’s listeria outbreak in 2015.  Ten of the 12 jurors voted not guilty.

Judge Robert Pitman stated in his order declaring a mistrial that members of the jury told the court they were “hopelessly deadlocked.”

Kruse was tried for one count of conspiracy and five counts of wire fraud on accusations that he concealed what the company knew about listeria contamination in some of its facilities.  If convicted, each of the charges carried a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued Kruse was concerned that Blue Bell’s customers would be scared away from all of the company’s products if they learned of listeria contamination in certain ones.  Kruse’s defense lawyers, however, said Kruse was doing his best with the available information at the time and that his intent was never to cheat customers.

The company pleaded guilty separately in 2020 to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products, paying a total of $19.35 million in fines, forfeitures and civil settlement payments.

Federal prosecutors can pursue another trial against Kruse, but they have not stated whether they intend to do so.