Information for Victims in Large Cases

Blue Bell’s former president, Paul Kruse, was indicted separately on October 20, 2020 in connection with his alleged role in covering up from customers what the company knew about the contaminated ice cream.  The case against Mr. Kruse went to trial in August 2022 and resulted in a mistrial.  Mr. Kruse subsequently agreed to a plea agreement related to Blue Bell’s distribution of listeria-tainted ice cream in 2015.  The plea agreement and criminal information charging Mr. Kruse with a criminal misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for causing the distribution of adulterated food in interstate commerce was filed in the Western District of Texas. The court set a plea and sentencing hearing for Mr. Kruse on March 28 at 4 pm at the federal courthouse in Austin, Texas.  The following is information relevant to the case against Mr. Kruse.

Court Assigned: The case of U.S. v. Kruse is assigned to the Honorable Robert Pitman, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, U.S. Federal Building and Courthouse, 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 5300, Austin, TX, 787011

The information on this website will be updated as new developments arise in the case.

Charles Hallinan ran multiple companies that provided short-term loans to tens of thousands of people, including Pennsylvania residents, in exchange for fees that were in gross violation of the usury laws in many states, including Pennsylvania. Hallinan's companies collected on these loans by debiting funds from the bank accounts of his borrowers on their expected paydays, a practice referred to as "payday loans."

The defendant of the case gained unauthorized access to the email, social media, and cloud storage accounts of 2000+ victims between 2015 and 2023. Thousands of candid, intimate photographs and videos have been seized from the defendant’s electronic devices and from his cloud storage accounts. 

Familiar Names and Terms:  UofM Football coach, Matt Weiss