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'Pop Artist' Pleads Guilty To Misbranding

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

A plea agreement that could get him off with probation is in the works for the self-proclaimed "pop artist" who inserted himself in the Tiger Woods story.

Jason Kay, 38, of Longmont, CO Friday changed his plea in U.S. District Court in Denver to guilty of one count of misbranding a food item.

Kay accepted responsibility for relabeling Gatorade bottles with artwork featuring a picture of Woods and his wife, Elin, and the word "unfaithful."  He then put the bottles back on the shelves of Front Range grocery stores.

In an e-mail to Pepsi, which owns the Gatorade brand, Kay offered the labels he created for a marketing campaign for the company.  Pepsi instead called the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Kay now faces up to one year in jail, and a fine of up to $1,000, but could also be sentenced only to probation. Before entering the guilty plea, Kay stood accused of three separate counts that could have resulted in fines up to $450,000 and four years in jail.

FDA found Kay put 67 relabeled Gatorade bottles back on store shelves.

In an arrest affidavit, an FDA agent said Kay told him that he made the labels as "pop art" and didn't realize he had done anything wrong.

Kay's guilty plea was entered on the same day that Woods made a televised apology for his sexual exploits with a long list of porn stars and girlfriends.  There was no mention of the larger Woods saga when Kay made his appearance in the Denver courtroom.

Attorney Paul McCormick said his client has a "little niche" in the pop art world for creating work like the labels.

Kay will return to court in May for sentencing.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on February 22, 2010 (boomark / email).