Ex-Blue Bell Creameries CEO charged in deadly listeria case

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Authorities say the former president of Blue Bell Creameries has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly trying to cover up a 2015 listeria outbreak linked to the company’s ice cream that killed three people in Kansas and sickened several others.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that a federal grand jury in Austin, Texas, returned a seven-count indictment charging Paul Kruse with six counts of wire fraud and one count to commit wire fraud.

This comes a little more than three months after a judge threw out previous charges against Kruse because prosecutors didn’t present them to a grand jury.

Kruse’s lawyer says the charges are unfounded and that he’ll argue they were brought after the statute of limitations had expired.