Thornton man charged with product tampering
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published September 18, 2008 at 6:01 p.m.
Updated September 18, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.
A Thornton man has been indicted for product tampering after allegedly falsely claiming that he found a syringe in a bag of potato chips in January.
Jacob John Polick, 35, was free on a $5,000 bond Thursday.
He was arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court on one count of product tampering and one count of making false statements. His trial is tentatively set for Nov. 17.
If convicted, Polick could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the tampering charge, and up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine on the false statements charge.
"There are better, safe and - above all - legal ways to make money than what the defendant allegedly did here," said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid.
On Jan. 2, Polick reported that he found a syringe in a bag of Frito-Lay Ruffles that he had purchased at a Safeway store in Thornton, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
After the case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, a grand jury indicted Polick on Sept. 9, and he was arrested last Friday.
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