A California court sentenced a couple to nine years in prison today for planting a human finger in a bowl of chili as part of a scam last year to defraud 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 child support in an unrelated case, giving him a sentence of a total of 12 years, four months behind bars.
"I am truly sorry. I owe Wendy's and its employees an apology," a tearful 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."