A former Chula Vista man has pleaded guilty to three counts of adulteration of beverage products in which he received refunds for tainted beer.
The bizarre scheme of Eduardo Dejesus Cossio III, 32, involved him purchasing beer at Target and Walmart stores in Eastlake, Chula Vista, National City, and elsewhere and then returning it with bottles filled with cleaning solution.
He would apparently drink the beer and place cleaning solutions and soap in the bottles and return them for refunds.
He would glue the caps back on the bottles and it appeared to be unopened.
Court records say other customers would buy the tainted beer and then discover the beer had been tampered with. Target stores looked at their security tapes and records and discovered it was Cossio repeatedly returning beer to get refunds in 2014 and 2015.
Target employees identified Cossio as he wore a distinctive pair of earrings, beard, and hair style in store security tapes. He filled out the refund records with his correct name, date of birth, and driver’s license number.
San Diego Police officers discovered glue sticks, glue guns, cleaning solutions, and dye bottles at his home.
Records don’t say if anyone was harmed. He pleaded guilty to returning adulterated beverages to the Target store at 910 Eastlake Parkway, and at 2911 Jamacha Road in El Cajon. Charges involving 29 similar counts were dismissed.
Cossio will be sentenced Oct. 7 in San Diego Superior Court. He faces a sentence of one year in jail and has agreed to pay restitution. The maximum sentence is four years and four months in prison.
