UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Finger-pointing in Wendy's chili scam

A married couple sentenced to prison for trying to extort Wendy's by claiming to find a human finger in chili now say the finger's owner devised the scheme. Anna Ayala said she agreed to go along with the scam "out of stupidity and greed."
|
 
Published: Jan. 24, 2006 at 6:39 PM

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A married couple sentenced to prison for trying to extort Wendy's by claiming to find a human finger in chili now say the finger's owner devised the scheme.

Anna Ayala said she agreed to go along "out of stupidity and greed." She told a California probation officer she got cold feet before she planted the fingertip in her nearly finished bowl of chili March 22, 2005, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Ayala and Jaime Plascencia both implicated Brian Rossiter in the crime. Plascencia paid Rossiter $100 for a fingertip severed in the tailgate of a truck at the Las Vegas asphalt plant where they worked.

Rossiter denied the fingertip was his until a DNA test and the Santa Clara (Calif.) County District Attorney said he could face prosecution if evidence warrants, the report said.

Ayala was sentenced to nine years and Plascencia 12 years, four months.

Topics: Anna Ayala, San Jose Mercury
© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 14
The 2013 Billboard Music Awards
View Caption
Singer Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 19, 2013. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
While Congress goes back and forth over how to solve the nation's financial problems, four specialized...
Gospel singer files glass action lawsuit against McDonald's for ruining her singing voice
Long-time Obama speechwriter, Jon Favreau says that Obama is different, and handles crisis different....
Video shows Florida men harassing manatees
Another day, another "OMFG GIANT FARKING ASTEROID TO COME WITHIN MILES OF HITTING US" story
If you've been in the oncology wards of these hospitals, cancer might not be your biggest concern...