A Wisconsin pharmacist who was arrested and charged with intentionally spoiling vials of a COVID-19 vaccine faces up to 20 years in prison after agreeing to plead guilty in federal court.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, was arrested earlier this month after removing 57 vials, hundreds of doses, of the Moderna vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator so that they would go bad. Moderna’s vaccine must be kept at super-cold temperatures in order to remain effective.
Healthcare workers were able to administer some of the vaccines, but many had to be thrown out. Police estimate that the discarded doses were worth between $8,000 and $11,000.
Brandenburg was charged with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products, described in the plea deal as showing “reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of death or bodily injury,” according to the Associated Press.
After his arrest, Brandenburg, who acknowledged being prone to believe in conspiracy theories, told investigators that he attempted to spoil the vaccines because he believed they could hurt people by altering their DNA.
“He’d formed this belief they were unsafe,” Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said during a virtual hearing.
Brandenburg said he was “under great stress because of marital problems.”
Brandenburg’s wife filed for divorce last June after eight years of marriage. The couple has two children. On Dec. 6, he showed up at her house to drop off a water purifier and two sets of 30-day supplies of food, telling his estranged wife that the world was “crashing down” and that the government was planning cyberattacks that would shut down the power grid.
His estranged wife said he was stockpiling food and weapons and that she no longer felt safe around him. Brandenburg had also been prohibited from seeing his children after a court commissioner determined they would not be safe in his care.
Prosecutors warned that more severe charges could follow if tests proved that any of the vaccines administered after Brandenburg removed them from the refrigerator were ineffective.
“Tampering with vaccine doses in the midst of a global health crisis calls for a strong response, as reflected by the serious charges the United States has brought today,” acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a statement.
