Couple Admit to Planting Finger in Chili

A couple accused of plotting to defraud Wendy’s by planting a severed fingertip in a bowl of chili pleaded guilty Friday, capping a case that has captured nationwide attention.

Jaime Plascencia, 43, and his wife, Anna Ayala, 39, of Las Vegas admitted to conspiracy to file a false insurance claim causing more than $2.5 million in damages and attempted grand theft in connection with the scheme.

Plascencia, who spoke through a court interpreter, faces up to 13 years in prison for the chili case and unrelated charges, including failure to pay child support and fraudulently using his son’s Social Security number.

Ayala faces up to nine years and eight months in prison in the chili case and on a charge of defrauding a woman out of $11,000 in the sale of a mobile home.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Edward Davila is scheduled to sentence them Nov. 2.

Prosecutors allege Ayala planted the 1 1/2 -inch digit that her husband obtained in a bowl of chili March 22 at a Wendy’s in San Jose.

“From the very beginning, we said we wanted to know the truth about this terrible incident,” said Tom Mueller, president and chief operating officer of Wendy’s North America. “Now we do.

“We hope Americans view Wendy’s as a company that did the right things when this crime was committed against us,” Mueller added.

Wendy’s has estimated the publicity cost the chain about $1 million a day for 30 days.

“We’re certainly satisfied that they’re acknowledging responsibility for the crimes they committed,” said Santa Clara County Deputy Dist. Atty. David Boyd outside court Friday.

Boyd said prosecutors offered no plea deals, and the judge accepted the pleas without conditions.

“This case didn’t warrant” a deal, Boyd said.

Attorneys for both sides and Davila met in the judge’s chambers three times, including Friday, after the case was referred to him two weeks ago.

As both defendants were about to enter not guilty pleas Aug. 25, Judge Jerome Nadler sent the case to Davila to try to resolve the matter before trial.

“The one thing we’ve never heard is the reason why they committed this crime. We look forward to an explanation,” Boyd said, referring to a probation report that will be prepared before the couple’s sentencing.

“She wanted to plead guilty early on,” said Rick Ehler, Ayala’s attorney.

“She recognized the harm she’d done. When this whole scheme was concocted, she couldn’t imagine the harm that would be done,” he said, referring to restaurant employees whose hours were scaled back.

Boyd disputed Ehler’s assertion, saying: “They didn’t plead guilty sooner because they were concerned about what would happen to them, not because they felt guilty about what they had done.”

On Friday, Davila told the couple they’d be asked to make restitution, saying, “We’ll talk about it at the time of sentencing.”

After court, Boyd said restitution would amount to millions of dollars.

In addition, he said Plascencia and Ayala each faces up to $60,000 in fines.

Before accepting their pleas, Davila asked the couple a series of questions to make sure they understood they were waiving their right to a trial.

Asked her reaction immediately after the guilty pleas, Ayala’s sister Mary said, “I don’t know.”

Before the hearing, she had said, “I just wish this was all over so we could have a big party and drink yourself to sleep.”

She said her office-cleaning business has been down since the case broke.

She said her sister worked with her several years ago in San Jose before moving to Las Vegas.

If the couple get prison time instead of probation -- an option to be considered by the judge -- she said she would take care of their two teenagers, who already are living with her.

The fingertip came from Brian Paul Rossiter, 36, who lost it when his gloved hand got caught in a mechanical truck lift at a paving firm where he worked in Las Vegas.

Rossiter’s attorney, Ivan Golde of Oakland, said his client would have testified that Plascencia told him about the scheme to defraud Wendy’s.

Golde said Rossiter did not know about the plan until after he sold his finger to Plascencia, a co-worker and friend, for $100 -- half of it to cancel a debt.

When Rossiter questioned Plascencia after hearing news on TV about the fingertip in the chili, “He said, ‘My wife is good at this kind of thing. She sues people,’ ” Golde said.

Golde said Plascencia asked Rossiter not to say anything about the couple’s plan.

Authorities have said Rossiter cooperated in the investigation.