Two men charged with second-degree murder for a fatal meningitis outbreak will be spending the holidays and beyond behind bars in Livingston County.

Officials with the Michigan Attorney General's office say that Barry J. Cadden and Glenn Chin will remain in the Livingston County Jail until their pre-trial hearings resume in mid-February. Cadden and Chin were transported from federal prisons in Pennsylvania in early November for two days of hearings to determine if they should stand trial in connection with 11 deaths in Livingston County. Officials say the decision was made to keep them in Michigan to avoid the expense of transportation between Michigan and Pennsylvania where they have been serving their federal sentences for convictions on racketeering, mail fraud and conspiracy charges in a separate case related to the 2012 national outbreak.

Cadden, the co-founder of New England Compounding Center, and Chin, who worked there as a pharmacist, were charged earlier this year by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. At least 100 people have died and nearly 1,000 others became ill nationwide because of tainted steroids. The outbreak killed 23 people in Michigan. Investigators connected the compounding pharmacy to Michigan clinics, including Michigan Pain Specialists in Genoa Township, which had dispensed the NECC contaminated steroids.

The November hearings were for Michigan witnesses to testify. Out of state witnesses will testify at the follow-up hearings in February. Livingston County District Court Judge Shauna Murphy is deciding whether there is enough evidence to bind the case over to Livingston County Circuit Court for trial. She earlier denied a motion by the defendant’s attorneys that they not be required to attend the February sessions. (JK)