The Department of Justice has an interesting case on their hands. A Wisconsin Pharmacist, Steven Brandenburg, 46 years old, plead guilty this past Monday for tampering with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. He faces two charges of attempted to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of danger of death or bodily injury according to npr.org.
These charges have the potential to enforce Brandenburg to pay a fine of $250,000 along with a lengthy sentence of 10 years in prison. He plead guilty of removed a specific box of the Moderna vaccine from the pharmacy refrigerator for multiple hours, Justice Department officials said. Brandenburg, who has spent the last 23 years as a licensed pharmacist, knew this would leave the vaccines inert or less effective.(npr.org) These actions were brought to the attention of the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Grafton Police Department back in December.
Why do this you may ask? Well, Brandenburg believed the plethora of conspiracy theories that have spread from social media and/or hearsay were factual. According to NPR.org, he shared these beliefs of his suspicion of the vaccines with co-workers. Unfortunately, roughly 57 people have received the tampered vaccine. Brandenburg awaits more misdemeanor charges to be add to his case, but in the meanwhile, he is free until the proceedings resume again.
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