Colo. farmers get probation in listeria case

Photo: cantaloupe
Cantaloupes

In addition to the probation, the two brothers, Eric and Ryan Jensen, each received six months of home detention.

The federal magistrate in Denver also ordered them to each pay $150,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service.

The two had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from a listeria outbreak linked to tainted cantaloupes from their farm in Holly, Colorado.

The listeria caused 33 deaths and sent nearly 150 people to the hospital.

The two faced sentences up to 6 years and $1.5 million in fines, but they asked for leniency saying justice had been served with the imposition of new food safety regulations.