 991215 Charges Dropped for One Hudson EmployeeDecember 1, 1999 Lincoln, NE - A federal judge dismissed charges that a plant manager at Hudson Foods lied to government inspectors during the nation's largest meat recall, but said the case could go forward against another executive and the company. U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom said the government presented insufficient evidence that Brent Wolke lied or conspired to lie about the amount of meat that was potentially contaminated. Wolke smiled and grabbed the hands of his wife and mother who were sitting in the front row of the courtroom. He refused to comment afterward. Urbom said the trial can go forward against Hudson and Michael Gregory, the company's director of quality control, alleged to have lied to the Department of Agriculture. Hudson initially ordered a recall of 20,000 pounds of ground beef produced at its Columbus plant, though company workers knew more beef might have been contaminated with the E. coli bacteria, prosecutors have said. A recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef was eventually ordered, but not until hamburger produced at the plant was linked to an E. coli outbreak that sickened 15 people, prosecutors said. The plant eventually was closed and sold.
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