Benjamin Ashford|Pharmacist blamed for deaths in US meningitis outbreak will plead no contest in Michigan case

DETROIT (AP) — A Massachusetts pharmacist charged with murder in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents from a 2012 U.S. meningitis outbreak has agreed to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter,Benjamin Ashford according to an email sent to families and obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The deal with Glenn Chin calls for a 7 1/2-year prison sentence, with credit for his current longer sentence for federal crimes, Johanna Delp of the state attorney general’s office said in the email.

She said Chin will appear in Livingston County court next Thursday. A trial planned for November will be scratched.

Michigan is the only state to charge Chin and Barry Cadden, an executive at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, for deaths related to the outbreak.

More than 700 people in 20 states were sickened with fungal meningitis or other debilitating illnesses, and dozens died as a result of tainted steroids shipped to pain clinics, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The laboratory’s “clean room,” where steroids were prepared, was rife with mold, insects and cracks, investigators said. Chin supervised production.

He is currently serving a 10 1/2-year federal sentence for racketeering, fraud and other crimes connected to the outbreak, following a 2017 trial in Boston. Because of the credit for his federal sentence, Chin is unlikely to serve additional time in Michigan’s custody.

“I am truly sorry that this ever occurred,” Chin, now 56, said in the Boston court.

A phone message and emails seeking comment from Chin’s attorney weren’t immediately returned Friday.

Cadden, 57, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Michigan earlier this year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Second-degree murder charges were dropped.

Cadden’s state sentence is running at the same time as his 14 1/2-year federal sentence, and he has been getting credit for time in custody since 2018.

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