Couple plead guilty in Wendy's severed finger case

A woman who fraudulently claimed she found a human finger in her meal at a fast food restaurant in the US could spend up to a…

A woman who fraudulently claimed she found a human finger in her meal at a fast food restaurant in the US could spend up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to all charges brought against her.

Anna Ayala and her husband, Jaime Placencia pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to file a false claim and attempted grand theft from Wendy's International, which claimed it lost $2.5 million in sales because of bad publicity.

Wendy's president Tom Mueller said he hoped the guilty pleas would "send a strong message and serve as a deterrent to others who may contemplate a fraudulent crime against the restaurant industry".

Ayala claimed to have found the fingertip on March 22 while eating chilli with her family at a Wendy's in San Jose.

- AP

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