PORTLAND (AP) – Two former executives of a Winslow biological laboratory pleaded guilty Thursday to their role in a scheme to smuggle a chicken virus into the country from Saudi Arabia in order to produce a vaccine.

Thomas Swieczkowski, 47, of Vassalboro, a former vice president of production for Maine Biological Laboratories; and Marjorie Evans, 41, of Belgrade Lakes, the lab’s former vice president of quality assurance and regulatory affairs, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

“It’s pretty serious when somebody brings a virus into the country,” U.S. Assistant District Attorney Toby Dilworth said. “The government and the poultry industry have taken extraordinary steps to make sure that they don’t have flocks come down with this disease.”

Swieczkowski and Evans both pleaded guilty to counts including conspiracy, mail fraud and other federal charges, all in connection with the scheme.

A sentencing hearing will be held later this year.

Swieczkowski faces up to 671/2 years in prison and more than $1.1 million in fines. Evans faces up to 781/2 years in prison and more than $1.7 million in fines.

The case dates to 1998, when a customer in Saudi Arabia discovered one of its chicken flocks had avian influenza. Officials at Maine Biological smuggled a virus sample into the United States to produce a vaccine, according to court records.

Prosecutors said that company officials, who were accused of falsifying production records and shipping documents, broke the law to increase sales and in doing so put domestic chicken flocks at risk.

Two other former Maine Biological employees pleaded guilty last month. The lab’s former chief financial officer, Dennis Guerrette, 40, of Brunswick, was charged last year. His trial is expected to begin in June.

The eight-count indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor, said Maine Biological Laboratories was paid $895,000 for 8,000 bottles of the vaccine.

Lab technicians produced another batch, but it was destroyed after officials learned somebody had tipped off the government before it could be shipped. The employees allegedly disposed of it before Department of Agriculture officials could inspect the laboratory.

According to court records, Maine Biological’s officers also agreed to affix labels that falsely stated the contents of vaccines for some overseas customers because the licenses for that vaccine hadn’t been issued by the importing country, the indictment said.

Lohman Animal Health International, a New Jersey company that owns Maine Biological Labs, released a statement last year saying none of the employees continued to work for the lab in Maine.

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