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Couple jailed over Wendy's finger scam
A couple who planted a human finger in a bowl of chilli at a Wendy's fast food restaurant has been sentenced in California to nine years in prison. "Greed and avarice overtook this couple and they lost their moral compass," Judge Edward Davila said of Anna Ayala and her husband Jaime Plascencia in handing down the nine-year sentence. The scam caused a sharp fall in sales at the third-largest US burger chain, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue and a lingering impact to this day, officials say. Plascencia was given another three years and four months for not paying support for the five children he has with another woman in an unrelated case, giving him a total sentence of 12 years, four months behind bars. Mr Davila also ordered the couple to pay almost $26.7 million in restitution but Wendy's officials indicated to the court they would only seek to collect approximately $227,000, representing the wages lost by employees at the San Jose restaurant where working hours were cut back after a downturn in business. "The crimes committed by the defendants have done immeasurable damage to Wendy's image, not only in northern California, but across the country," Denny Lynch, a Wendy's senior vice president, told the court. Her apology: "I am truly sorry. I owe Wendy's and its employees an apology," a sobbing Ayala told the court. Posted by: Fred 2006-01-19 |
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