Milwaukee, Wisconsin /
Steven Brandenburg, the Wisconsin pharmacist accused of screwing up more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will plead guilty to federal court and face up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors familiar with the case.
Brandenburg is formally charged with two counts of “trying to handle consumer products without regard to the risk of death or bodily harm to another, “an indictment each holding at least 10 years in prison.
The pharmacist would, in addition to the fine, be fined 500 thousand dollars (10 million 24 thousand 950 Mexican pesos) for both costs. He had originally been charged with property damage, but prosecutors warned more serious charges could arise if the evidence showed Moderna’s vaccine doses were ruined.
Authorities declined to comment outside of a press release announcing the allegations.
“Manipulating vaccine doses in the midst of a global health crisis requires a vigorous response, as evidenced by serious charges filed by the United States today,” Acting Assistant Attorney General said in a statement. Brian Boynton, of the Civil Affairs Division of the Federal Justice Department.
Jason Baltz, a Brandenburg lawyer, declined to comment on the allegations about his client. No hearing on the conviction is planned.
Police arrested Brandenburg on Dec. 31 as part of an investigation into how 57 vials of Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine were left for hours outside a refrigerator in the medical center. Aurora Health attorney in Grafton, a suburb of Milwaukee.
The bottles contain sufficient doses to inoculate more than 500 people. Authorities stated in court documents that Brandenburg believes in conspiracy theories, in which he claimed the vaccine made by messenger RNA would mutate human DNA.
Adam GerolThe Ozaukee County District Attorney said in a statement that “an appropriate level of prosecution and punishment was necessary for this case” in federal court, reiterating that “the facts of this incident simply did not fit with an expected indictment. Wisconsin.”
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