Family members of those killed in the 2011 cantaloupe Listeria outbreak met today in Denver with Eric and Ryan Jensen, the brothers who grew the contaminated cantaloupes thought to have caused the deaths. The pair agreed to the unusual meeting in separate plea bargains with John F. Walsh, the U.S. District Attorney for Colorado. The 2011 outbreak was the direct cause of 33 deaths and is associated with another 10 deaths that may have included other complications. In the meeting today at Walsh’s office in downtown Denver, surviving family members are getting the opportunity to make statements and ask questions of the Holly, CO, cantaloupe growers. Eric and Ryan Jensen agreed to the meeting in their Oct. 22 plea bargain agreement with government attorneys. The brothers will be sentenced in January after pleading guilty to each of six federal misdemeanor counts for aiding and abetting and the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commence. Jennifer Exley, the daughter of Herb Stevens, who died in July from complications associated with the contaminated cantaloupe, told Denver’s 7NEWS that the meeting with the Jensens is a “fact-finding mission.” Jensen Farms, the brothers’ partnership that grew the melons, is now bankrupt. The plea agreement also calls for the brothers to assist the government and the victims in “determining the exact loss amounts attributable to each victim” and help the government recover assets for victim restitution.
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