Mary Ann Bliesner, 80, of Sunnyside, WA, and her company, Valley Processing Inc. (VPI), is charged with conspired with others to distribute tainted and potentially unsafe apple and grape juice concentrate to customers in the United States and abroad.
The indictment said between October 2012 and June 2019, Bliesner’s juice products were made under unsanitary conditions and contained potentially harmful levels of contaminants, such as arsenic.
At least some of those products later were sold to customers who supplied the National School Lunch Program, which provides free or reduced-cost lunches to children, according to the indictment. In addition, Bliesner and VPI failed to register two facilities that they used to store fruit juice products and lied to inspectors with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the existence and use of those facilities, according to the indictment.
In November 2020, the United States filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking to enjoin Bliesner and VPI from producing, storing or selling juice or juice products. In January 2021, Bliesner and VPI agreed to a consent injunction in which Bliesner and VPI promised they were no longer processing, manufacturing, preparing, packing, holding or distributing any type of food, and would not do so in the future without first notifying and receiving approval from the FDA. VPI subsequently closed.
The criminal indictment charges Bliesner with 12 felony counts of fraud, conspiracy, false statements, and violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The defendant is scheduled for her initial court appearance Oct. 5 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Ekstrom of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.