Couple jailed over chilli finger scam

A Nevada couple who planted a severed finger in a bowl of chilli to extort money from the Wendy’s fast food chain were today sentenced to jail.

Anna Ayala, 40, who claimed to have bitten into the digit while eating at a Wendy’s restaurant, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, who supplied the finger, was sent to jail for a minimum of 12 years.

On September 9, 2005, the pair pleaded guilty in Santa Clara County Superior Court to two charges arising from the chilli-finger scam – conspiracy to file a false insurance claim and attempted grand theft with damages exceeding $2.5m.

Ayala initially said she had retched after biting into the fingertip while dining with her family on March 22, 2005, at a Wendy’s restaurant in San Jose, California.

Although authorities suspected a hoax – partly because the finger wasn’t cooked – word of the stomach-churning find quickly spread around the world.

The fast food chain claimed it lost $2.5m in sales because of the negative publicity. Dozens of workers at the company’s Northern California franchises were laid off as a result of the slowdown.

The company said at the time no Wendy’s employee at the San Jose restaurant was missing a digit, and no chilli suppliers had reported finger injuries at their plants.

In April, 2005, Ayala was arrested at her suburban Las Vegas home for filing a false claim against the restaurant chain.

Investigators found a pattern of legal claims she had brought against businesses in her name or on behalf of her children.

A lengthy search for the finger’s owner eventually pointed to one of Plascencia’s co-workers, who lost it in an accident at the paving company where they both worked, police said.

Plascencia bought the tip of Brian Rossiter’s right ring finger for $100 and told him what he and Ayala were plotting, according to court documents.

Rossiter later told police the couple offered him $250,000 to keep quiet.