CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids man has pleaded guilty to charges that he falsely told FDA investigators he was a Hepatitis B carrier who had bled into batches of a consumer product made by his former employer.
Last year, Luke Truesdell was indicted on four counts of communicating false information about a consumer product and three counts of making false statements. On Friday, federal prosecutors say he pleaded guilty to two of those counts in exchange for the other charges being dropped.
Truesdell remains in federal custody and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he's sentenced.
Court records don't identify Truesdell's former employer or the product he claimed was tainted. They say that he made false statements to the FDA and in a Facebook post.
