Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe APPLETON, Wis., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin woman who brought a dead rat to a restaurant and hid it in her food in an attempt to obtain money from the business pleaded no contest to extortion. Debbie Miller, 43, pleaded no-contest to a felony extortion charge and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing police in Judge Dee Dyer's Appleton courtroom Tuesday, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported Wednesday. Advertisement Miller, who is scheduled to be sentenced March 8 in Outagamie County Court, was accused of bringing a dead rat to The Seasons restaurant April 17, 2008, and planting it in her food. Authorities said she threatened to go to the media if restaurant bosses would not pay her $500,000. However, tests on the rat verified that it was a domestic breed, not a wild animal, and had been cooked in a microwave. The Seasons does not use microwaves. The extortion charge carries a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, while the obstructing police charge carries a maximum jail sentence of 9 months and a $10,000 fine.
