Court sentence couple to nine years in Wendy chilli finger ...

[demosincebirth]

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - A California court sentenced a couple to nine years in prison on Wednesday for planting a severed human finger in a bowl of chili to swindle a Wendy's fast food restaurant.



Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Edward Davila 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 U.S. 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.

"Greed and avarice overtook this couple and they lost their moral compass," Judge Davila said.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[MrSlayer]

1. 9 years for fraud, child rapist gets 60 days.

This country gets more interesting by the day.

[Deja Q]

8. But one crime involves a child. The other involves a corporation.

A corporation selling artery-clogging grease filth.

Which is more important? :think:

pro-life my big-fat-hairy ass. x(

[Fountain79]

14. Actually....

The Wendy's Chili is pretty decent choice to have....

[AZBlue]

18. 9 years is fine. 60 days was beyond absurd. (nt)

[LittleClarkie]

49. Oh but didn't you hear. That's the libruls fault

we care more about the rapist than we do about the victim, you know. We want to rehabilitate them all.

Damn radio idiots.

:puke:

[Raine]

35. It's not the Wendy's sentance being too long

it's the other being too short.

[Eric J in MN]

48. Society isn't served by having that woman behind bars for the

next 9 years.

[obxhead]

2. Now why would you do this to your "favorite fast food restaurant"?

Why not go down the street to the other guys food ya hate and try to steal their loot.

I guess what they say is true....

Stupid people make stupid criminals.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

3. It Was Extortion And Then Some. I Think What They Did Was Abhorable.

9 years may be a bit much, but minimum of 5 was deserved.

[Canuckistanian]

4. Harsh.

But a windfall for Wendy's, it seems.

Not that I condone scams and this was a big one, but.... 9 Years?

Fun Fact:
William Calley received "a few months" house arrest for a charge of 22 premeditated murders in the Vietnam civilian massacre case of My Lai.

[Deja Q]

10. Agreed. I don't condone them either. But the previous poster said

60 days for child molesting, comapard to 9 years for a scam.

Along with anti-worker judgments allowing companies to spirit away the retirement money the workers put in... things are too obvious.

Even libertarians and some repugs disagree with those judgments too...

[Freedom_Aflaim]

13. A windfall for wendys?

You don't really think that they'll actually collect $22 million from the people convicted do you? I seriously doubt that they'll collect the $172.

[zanne]

24. I'll bet Ken Lay doesn't get nine years. nt

[MichiganVote]

5. 9 years!! 9 freakin' years for this?!? Welcome to the Gulag Society

[Frank Cannon]

25. Cry me a freakin' river. They deserve it.

I am sick to death of frivolous lawsuits. I don't care who the defendants are. Maybe one day when YOU'RE the victim of a frivolous, fraudulent lawsuit, you might feel the same way I do. In the meantime, best of luck to you.

This was probably the stupidest lawsuit ever filed in American history. It was obviously fraudulent. In my opinion, these people got LUCKY to only get nine years in the lock-up.

[MichiganVote]

33. And who do you think pays for them now buddy boy. They'll sit on their

ass in prison on our dime. That's not a good deal either.

[Frank Cannon]

37. Too bad

If it makes the next stupid fool think (if that's possible) twice about setting up a ridiculously fraudulent lawsuit, then so be it.

I honestly believe that this was the most cognitively impaired lawsuit ever filed in American history. I cackle in derision at anyone on this forum who thinks the losers who filed this suit ever had a leg to stand on.

[Obamanaut]

45. It's a bit excessive, when you consider about $45/day of tax

money to incarcerate them. Plus medical expenses. Seems to me making them repay the expenses involved in the defense, plus court costs, plus a whole batch of community service cleaning up messes in sports complexes and the like would be a much better deal for the taxpayer. Ya think?

[Jacobin]

6. Any guess as to how long Kenny Boy will serve for destroying

tens of thousands of people's retirement accounts and stealing hundreds of millions?

Just askin

[demosincebirth]

7. I don't think he'll serve half of that if convicted. If so. he'll

serve it in some country club minimum security prison.

Equal justice for all? I don't think so.

[Deja Q]

9. 90 days in minimum security, 18 months on parole?

And he gets to keep all that money too.

Tell that to every other robber who gets caught...

[Frank Cannon]

28. I hope he gets life in prison, but that doesn't mean the idiots...

that committed THIS crime should get less than what they got. Nine years in jail is, in my opinion, a light sentence for being probably the dumbest criminals that ever lived.

[proud patriot]

11. augie38 please read

In the future please limit your snips of articles
to 4 paragraphs as per the Democratic Underground
copyright rules .

proud patriot moderator
Democratic Underground

[Freedom_Aflaim]

12. I don't have a problem with the 9 years

Consider how many under employed folks have suffered and/or lost their jobs at Wendys. The company mentioned $172k in lost wages at the one store alone. Thats ALOT of hours for a minimum wage worker to have lost.

So while I don't have a problem with 9 years in this case, I DO have a problem with the light sentences that some violent criminals get for heinous crimes, and I do have a problem with light sentences for those who harm children.

Gheesh, while Im at it, I also think that sentences are way way to tough for folks convicted of drug charges. Thats an area that totally out of control.

IMO, the whole criminal court sentencing system needs to be rebalanced.

[newyawker99]

15. augie38

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source
and provide a link to
the source.



Thank you.


NYer99
DU Moderator

[demosincebirth]

20. Ok

[Saphire]

16. here is an interesting one from San Antonio: No justice here.

Mother Of Boy Starved To Death To Go Free

POSTED: 7:16 am CST January 19, 2006
UPDATED: 7:24 am CST January 19, 2006

SAN ANTONIO -- The mother of a 4-year-old boy who died on Christmas Day in 2003 from severe abuse and starvation was scheduled for release from prison on Thursday.

Lisa Ochoa served two years in prison after accepting a plea bargain from the Bexar County District Attorney's Office on charges of abandonment and child endangerment in connection with the death of her son, Jovonie Ochoa.

http://www.ksat.com/news/6239511/detail.html

[Javaman]

17. Whole new meaning to the term "finger food"...n/t

[Yollam]

19. I have mixed feelings on this...

If they had done this to a mom and pop joint instead of a huge corporate-owned quasi-food trough, they would have gotten a slap on the wrist.

But then again, had they damaged Wendy's reputation enough, hundreds or thousands of people would have lost their livelihoods.

I don't know what to think of this verdict. Pretty scummy couple either way, though.

[demosincebirth]

23. Crimes against Corporate America are...

punished more severely than those against us regular folk.

[Yollam]

26. Yes, I agree, but in this case...

...an awful lot of people could have been hurt by it.

If they had merely borrowed a logo without permission, or something like that, I'd be for more lenience.

[Frank Cannon]

27. I am sick to death of fraudulent, frivolous lawsuits

It seems to be the "GET RICH QUICK" scheme of the 21st century, to sue a company for millions over...something, anything. This lawsuit was so obviously fraudulent that it would have been laughable, except for the fact that people really did lose their jobs and Wendy's did lose business through no fault of their own.

I think these perpetrators got off easy. Nine years in jail for being a colossally stupid and greedy dumba$$ seems like light punishment to me.

[Yollam]

30. Why are you sick of them?

Frivolous lawsuits are by definition rejected by the judge. If the judge agrees to let the case go to trial it is not frivolous. Fraudulent lawsuits are illegal. Are you a proponent of the GOP's "tort reform" schemes to remove all accountability from American corporations? Is that what you're trying to say?

[Frank Cannon]

31. I have no problem with suing corporations over REAL issues

In fact, our courts should focus on REAL lawsuits about REAL issues. The problem is, our courts are tied up with ridiculous dross such as this case. This lawsuit was patently fraudulent from day one. That it got as far as it did, and wasted so much time, is the real travesty.

I'm glad the scammers involved are going to jail, and for an appreciable number of years. Maybe someone else will think twice before they try to run a similar fraudulent scheme.

[Yollam]

32. There was no lawsuit. Frivolous lawsuits going to court are very rare.

I'm sorry, but you've swallowed a lot of false GOP memes, IMO.

[Frank Cannon]

36. And if you think that a finger can show up in Wendy's chili...

without a WHOLE LOT OF OTHER THINGS happening before it even gets there, I have some "valuable" property to sell you. And I mean that, too. Please give me your full contact information as soon as possible, because I have a feeling that I can make a LOT of money off of you.

[Yollam]

38. THERE WAS NO LAWSUIT. WHAT PART DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

Name me more than ten examples of frivolous lawsuits that went to trial and resulted in an unfair settlement or award.

And spare me the one about the McDonald's coffee woman who got a billion dollars for the third degree burns on her genitals - that was reduced to $50,000 in the final decision. I'm SURE that she didn't feel that her skin graft operations were frivolous.

And I don't want to hear about the little girl who John Edwards represented in a suit against the pool drain company because she had her INTESTINES sucked out of her body by the drain.

[Frank Cannon]

39. Nice straw man

Forgive me if I don't joust at it.

These idiots attempted to fraudulently sue Wendy's over this ridiculous claim. They were busted for it. Thank the Lord (however you understand him/her/it, or even if you don't).

Peace.

ON EDIT: Oh, and I really, REALLY want your contact information. I've got this bank account in Niger that I need some help with, and YOU'RE PERFECT to give me a hand with it. So what do ya say? Partners?

[Yollam]

40. "attempts" are not fraudulent/frivolous lawsuits.

And the the only strawman is yours, the legend of the runaway frivolous lawsuits.

I'm anything but an easy mark whether it be for the small-time cons you joke about, or the big scams being run by corporate America every damn day, the ones that you apparently would like them to be allowed to run without legal recourse.

As for ridiculous claims, there have been legitimate cases of cockroaches found inside of sealed Coke bottles where the plaintiff won, so had the incident really happened as they described, yes, there may have been a case, and you'd be in your rights to question whether any real damage was ever inflicted on the plaintiff.

But I know for a fact American corporations inflict many thousands of times more in damages through their unethical/negligent practices than consumers ever do through lawsuits, frivolous or otherwise. I will also remind you that corporate profits are at record highs....

[Frank Cannon]

41. Until you can address the specific issue of a finger in chili...

which is so absurd that you absolutely and embarrassingly won't even address it (because you know you are dead in the water on this topic), then we'll never, EVER be on the same page with ANYTHING.

Sorry! But it's been great DUing with you!

(In the meantime, enjoy your strawmen. And please, PLEASE forward your contact information to me. 'Cause I really, REALLY need to make some money off of you!! You're PERFECT!!)

[Yollam]

42. A finger in chili is highly unlikely but not impossible.

And that's a comforting thing, since I like an occasional bowl of Wendy's chili.

You keep making the same insulting comments, even though it's you that has bought a bill of goods with the whole tort reform scam.

The couple attempted to sue, but the case never saw a courtroom, so it's really irrelevant to the subject of "frivolous lawsuits". Had it ever made it to a judge, it would have very likely been thrown out the very reasons you mention - that it's a farfetched scenario.

So what does ANY of this have to do with the GOP-created urban legends of "frivolous lawsuits"?


And it has not been great DUing with you, you've been dishonest, ignorant and insulting.

Good day.

[Frank Cannon]

43. It's impossible

Not to mention that there was testimony from others about how they GOT that finger--from the local emergency room!!

It's just dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, no matter how you choose to portray it. The people who tried to sue Wendy's over this incident were really quite possibly the dumbest a$$holes who ever lived--and with George W. Bush as competition, that's saying something.

[Yollam]

44. I'm familiar with the story details, thank you.

And yes, the couple were incredibly dumb, since matching the finger to the man was elementary detective work.

However, the scenario of a severed finger getting into mass-produced chili (which has old hamburger meat added to it at the local store level) is not impossible at all. The product is not protected like nuclear material at every stage of production such that this could have never possibly happened. Luckily, it apparently hasn't, and hopefully it won't, but it is NOT an impossible scenario. People generally don't just absentmindedly lose a finger and lose track of where it went, though, so it would have to be a bizarre set of circumstances to cause such a scenario to ever genuinely happen.

[High Plains]

50. Get a grip, man.

Nobody is saying there was really a finger in the chili.

[malaise]

21. They did a really stupid thing here

dumb and stupid, but isn't nine years draconian. I'm waiting for those Enron sentences.

[dogday]

22. They should force them to work at Wendy's for a year

now that would be a living hell....

[malaise]

29. Good idea

why do people believe they can get away with such stupidity. How dumb do you have to be not to know that these things can and will be checked thoroughly. Do people really want riches that badly. Fugging dumbos.

[pinniped]

34. Two stupid idiots.

The dummy thought no one would find out about the 'other' lawsuits she filed against restaurants.

Ya, lawsuit paperwork has to be destroyed after 60 days.

[Ilsa]

46. How much time will Jay Leno get for smearing Wendys every night

for several weeks? I doubt I would have heard anything about it except that I read DU and there were clips of Leno talking about it.

[Horse with no Name]

47. Let's not even mention that Michael Fortier gets out of prison tomorrow

and steps into his brand new life in a place like Des Moines, IA under witness protection.
10 years for being an accomplice in the OKC bombings.
We only fear the terrorists that are brown you know.:sarcasm: