MILWAUKEE – A former employee at Johnsonville Sausages has been charged for tampering and putting foreign objects into sausage links.
According to a criminal complaint, Jonathan Tilman Lane of Kiel, Wisconsin, was arrested and appeared in federal court on Friday in Milwaukee to face charges of tampering with a consumer product.
Video surveillance obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice determined that on March 25, 2018, Lane placed a cigarette paper in a sausage link. Three days later, he then placed a wire connector in a sausage link while the items were on the processing line.
The Department of Justice says in both instances, these foreign items were removed before the sausage links were packaged. 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. As to each count, the Lane faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to 3 years of supervised release.
