Stiff sentence for couple in Wendy's finger scam

SAN JOSE - A California court has sentenced a couple to nine years in prison for planting a severed human finger in a bowl of chilli to swindle a Wendy's fast food restaurant.

A judge in Santa Clara Superior Court sentenced Anna Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, to nine years imprisonment for their role in the Wendy's scam, which caused a sharp fall in sales at the third-largest US burger chain.

The husband 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.

The judge also ordered the couple to pay almost US$22 million ($32.44 million) in restitution but Wendy's officials indicted to the court they would only seek to collect approximately US$170,000, representing the wages lost by employees at the San Jose restaurant where working hours were cut back after a downturn in business.

"We are very satisfied with the decision made by the judge," Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch said.

Investigators determined Plascencia obtained the piece of finger from a co-worker who had lost the top of a digit in an industrial accident at a Las Vegas paving company. The man had turned over the finger fragment to settle a $50 debt.

Wendy's International, based in Dublin, Ohio, paid a US$100,000 reward for information to help establish the source of the severed finger.

"I am truly sorry. I owe Wendy's and its employees an apology," a sobbing Ayala told the court. "Wendy's had always been my family's favorite fast food restaurant."

She called her actions "a moment of poor judgment," and told her family: "For all the shame I brought upon them I am sorry, I am so sorry."

Ayala, 39, who had been a Las Vegas resident, claimed that she discovered the finger after buying the bowl of chilli last March. She complained about the experience and hired a lawyer, attracting wide attention to the bizarre incident.

Ayala's attorney Rick Ehler accused prosecutor David Boyd of using the media attention to get a tough sentence. "It seems as though the prosecution tried to exert some judicial pressure through the media," Ehler said.

"I am extremely remorseful," said Plascencia, 43, who, like his wife, wore prison clothes to the hearing at which television cameras were permitted.

Plascencia's attorney Charles Kramer said the probation department's recommendation of 11 years for his client was excessive.

"I was quite surprised at the harshness of the probation department's recommendation," Kramer said. "Judge (Edward) Davila going over and above that shocks me even more."

Company officials said the company lost millions of dollars as a result of the scam, and that the bad publicity still lingers. "There is still some sales impact, particularly on the West Coast," spokesman Bob Bertini said.

At one point the chain gave away free ice cream to try to lure customers back into its San Jose area restaurants.

- REUTERS