Florida Law Does Not Consider Product Tampering A Harmless Prank

On April Fools Day, it’s fun to fill the sugar container with salt and wait until your parents figure out why their coffee tastes weird, but in the eyes of the law, product tampering is no joke.  If you intentionally tamper with a consumer product, you can be charged with a second-degree felony, and a conviction could get you a long prison sentence.  The consumer products covered by this law include food, medicines, personal care items, and devices that could cause bodily harm if tampered with.  If you get accused of product tampering, a possible defense is that you are not the source of contamination of the product.  If applicable, you might also be able to argue that the crime lab’s results that detected a harmful substance in or on the product were incorrect.  A Tampa criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for tampering with a consumer product.

Pinellas County Man Faces Charges for Intentionally Contaminating Nephew’s Food

If you have worked in food service for more than a few weeks, you have probably seen so many variations in people’s food preferences that it can no longer surprise you when someone seeks out or avoids a certain combination of foods.  Ranch dressing on mozzarella sticks?  Sure!  A burger with lettuce and no other toppings?  Whatever floats your boat!  A fast food restaurant worker in Pinellas County saw a food decorating incident so dangerous that it prompted her to call the police, though.

A customer ordered two sandwiches to go, and when he received them, he asked the cashier to lend him some eyedrops.  She did, since allergy season was particularly bad this year, and everyone needs eyedrops.  To her surprise, the man opened the bottle of eyedrops, unwrapped the meatball sandwich, and poured eyedrop solution onto the sandwich.  He said that he was doing this because he wanted to make his nephew sick; he sounded confident that his nephew would get an upset stomach but would not suffer permanent harm.

The cashier called the police as soon as the employee left, and they arrived at his house several minutes later.  The nephew had already eaten one bite of the sandwich and was not showing any signs of illness.  The police offered to take him to a doctor’s office to be examined, but he refused.  The officer who responded to the call told news sources that he had previously responded to calls from the same family about domestic disputes.  The uncle is now facing charges for attempting to poison food. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years, but it is likely that his sentence will be less because the nephew did not suffer serious harm.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing charges for tampering with a consumer product.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Sources:

wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/pinellas-man-poured-eye-drops-in-nephews-sandwich-to-make-him-puke-his-brains-out-pcso/

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0500-0599/0501/Sections/0501.001.html