Blue Bell Agrees to Plead Guilty for Ice Cream Listeria Contamination

Texas-based ice cream manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries has agreed to plead guilty to charges it shipped contaminated products linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak.

The company's former president, Paul Kruse, was also charged in connection with a scheme to cover up the incident, according to the Justice Department.

In a plea agreement filed with a criminal information in federal court in Austin, Texas, Blue Bell agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products and pay a criminal fine and forfeiture amount totaling $17.25 million.

Blue Bell also agreed to pay an additional $2.1 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations regarding ice cream products manufactured under insanitary conditions and sold to federal facilities.