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Product tampering case Larksville man facing federal and state charges, authorities say

By Andrew M. Seder [email protected]
Times Leader Staff Writer

A Larksville man is facing federal and state charges on allegations he injected his own semen into yogurt containers of two of his coworkers over a 20-month period.

Joseph Bartorillo, 60, was charged Tuesday with a federal count of tampering with a consumer product that affected interstate commerce.

The charge, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, does not detail the criminal allegations.

But Wyoming County District Attorney Jeff Mitchell, who is also preparing state charges against Bartorillo, said the man used a syringe to inject his own semen into the yogurt at least 13 times between October 2009 and May 2011. The incidents occurred at Bartorillo’s place of employment, the Procter & Gamble plant in Washington Township, near Mehoopany, Wyoming County.

Mitchell said there is no indication that Procter & Gamble products were tampered with.

Bartorillo has signed a plea agreement to the federal charge, but he is not in custody, said Heidi Havens, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She said no date has been set for his initial arraignment appearance, and she declined to provide details on the case other than what was in federal filings.

According to the plea agreement, he would face a sentence of two years in prison and an undetermined fine. If he went to trial and was found guilty, he could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and could be fined up to $250,000.

The federal investigation was conducted by agents of the FBI with the assistance of the detective’s unit of the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office.

A message left with Bartorillo’s attorney, Demetrius W. Fannick, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Mitchell said his office became involved in the case when the employees reported suspected problems with their yogurts to officials. Federal testing labs were involved to determine the substance.

“We never had a case like this before,” Mitchell said.

He hasn’t determined what state-level charges will be filed.