June 5 (UPI) — A Wisconsin sausage factory worker is facing federal charges after he allegedly put foreign objects into the meat, prosecutors announced Monday.
Jonathan Lane was working on the processing line at the Johnsonville Sausage plant in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., in March when he allegedly placed a cigarette paper in a sausage link and, three days later, put a wire connector in another link.
Prosecutors said the items were removed before packaging and Johnsonville closed down the factory and discarded all products that may have been affected.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin did not say when the factory was closed.
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,” prosecutors said.
He faces 10 years of prison and up to $250,000 in fines on each count.
Johnsonville, LLC is one of the largest meat processors in the United States with more than 1,600 employees and nearly $1 billion in net revenue.
