(KMJ) – Fresno County will receive $125,000 in a settlement with the owner of the building where an illegal biological lab was found in Reedley.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 in closed session on Tuesday to the settlement with AY-NC LP, the owner of the building.
A Reedley code enforcement officer discovered the illegal lab at 850 I Street in December of 2022.
City Manager Nicole Zieba told KMJ that local law responded after code enforcement became suspicious in late December after finding the lab.
Universal Meditech Inc., and Prestige Biotech, leased the space.
Inside, the City of Reedley found COVID, HIV, bio-hazardous material, fluids and infectious agents, incubators, more than a dozen refrigerators and freezers and 1,000 lab mice.
She say they called the feds, state and the county, who went in January to investigate.
Zieba told KMJ’S Broeske and Musson show that the FBI told her not to go public.
Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld held a news conference Monday, July 31, 2023, calling for more transparency with the public.
Fresno County and the city of Reedley paid for the abatement in the spring of 2023.
The EPA cleaned lab chemicals in January 2024.
The City of Reedley sent a $310,000 invoice to both the property owner and the lab company.
Jia Bei Zhu. aka David He, aka Jesse Zhu, faces two counts of distribution of adulterated or misbranded medical devices and one count of making a false statement.
He will be returning to federal court on March 13, 2024.
