Yeah erm... I heard this lady has been involved in like 5 or 6 lawsuits against fast food companies over the last few years, all of them being dismissed as frivolous. Sounds like a bad scam to me.
Well, the saga of the Finger In The Chili came to an end yesterday, with Anna Ayala, the woman who claims to have found the finger, and Jaime Placencia, her husband, pleading guilty to charges included attempted grand theft and insurance fraud.
In case you're wondering where the finger came from, it came from a friend of Placencia's, who lost it in an industrial accident, and sold it to him for $100. Ayala then planted the finger in some chili she got at a Wendy's in San Jose, CA.
She could be going to jail for a very long time.
If given the maximum sentence on Nov. 2, Ayala could spend nine years and eight months in state prison, while Placencia faces 13 years.
Deputy District Attorney David Boyd said there is a "high probability" he will seek the maximum sentence.
"One thing we've never heard is the reason they committed this crime. I look forward to an explanation. I think we all do," Boyd said outside court.
Ayala's attorney, Rick Ehler, said his client had wanted to plead guilty since she learned of the financial hardship her actions had caused Wendy's employees.
"When the whole scheme was concocted, they never imagined it would become what it was," he said. "She realized the harm she'd caused. ... She wants to acknowledge her wrongdoing and come forward and do the right thing."
Ayala also pleaded guilty to unrelated charges in connection with defrauding a woman in the sale of a motor home, while Placencia pleaded guilty to failure to pay child support and fraudulently using his son's Social Security card.
Wendy's blames the incident for a 2% decline in sales nationwide, including losses of 20% on the West Coast and 70% in San Jose. Quite a few workers lost their jobs or had their hours cut as a result.
Brinstar
Chicago, IL
September 2002
APR 10, 2005 10:10 PM