LOS
ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a California inspector of meat who
falsely certified that contaminated beef was free of E. coli has been
sentenced to a year of home detention.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday that Jim Johnson of Downey was also ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution.
The 67-year-old pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of falsifying inspection documents.
Johnson worked as a consultant for Huntington Meat Packing, a former processing and distribution company in Montebello.
Prosecutors
say he knowingly provided federal food safety inspectors with papers
that stated a beef sample had tested negative for E. coli — when in fact
it had tested positive for the pathogen.
Johnson's actions led to the recall of more than five million pounds of beef products.
