A New Hampshire man will plead guilty to federal charges for placing razor blades and screws inside Portland Pie Company doughs after being arrested last October.
Nicholas R. Mitchell, 39, was indicted by a federal grand jury in March and pled not guilty to two counts of tampering with a consumer product on March 29. However, he reached an agreement to plead guilty to the two counts this week, and will accept a sentence of up to four years and nine months in prison, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Mitchell had previously worked as a forklift operator for It’ll Be Pizza, which produces fresh pizza dough balls for Portland Pie Co. He was seen posing as a customer at the Saco Hannaford, inserting metal into balls of dough and then leaving the store without purchasing anything.
He was originally charged in York County in October with reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, which is a Class C crime in Maine. The case was referred to federal authorities, and Mitchell has been held in jail since his arrest.
