MEMPHIS, TN (AP/RNN) — A Tennessee man faces up to three years in prison for urinating on a Kellogg’s cereal conveyor belt at a Memphis facility.
News outlets report 49-year-old Gregory Stanton pleaded guilty last month to tampering with consumer products. He was indicted by a grand jury in September.
Stanton worked for the plant in 2014 and posted a video online in 2016 of him urinating on the conveyor belt. The video led the company to alert law enforcement and launched an investigation that involved the Food & Drug Administration.
“American citizens and consumers rely upon food manufacturers engaged in interstate commerce to provide them with safe and consistent products,” U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said. “Unfortunately, this defendant betrayed that trust by tampering with and tainting food products. We commend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their investigation in this matter, and we are pleased that the defendant has been held accountable for his criminal conduct.”
Kellogg’s released a statement on the guilty plea.
“It has been more than two years since this incident came to our attention, and we are pleased that the responsible individual was brought to justice. We want to thank the Food & Drug Administration and US Attorneys’ office for their commitment to this case.”
It’s unclear what prompted Stanton to urinate on the line or to film and share the act. The company and workers union were involved in a labor dispute at the time.
Stanton is set to be sentenced in February. In addition to prison time, he is facing three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, WMC reported.
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