Newport News, Virginia - A woman who tried to extort money from a restaurant chain by putting a dead mouse in a bowl of soup was sentenced to a year in jail.
Carla Patterson, 38, and her 22-year-old son, Ricky Patterson, sought $500 000 (about R3,5-million) from the Cracker Barrel chain after claiming they found the rodent in the vegetable soup the woman ordered at a Newport News restaurant on Mother's Day weekend in 2004.
A jury convicted the Pattersons of conspiracy to commit extortion in April. The Pattersons maintained their innocence, but evidence included tests showed the mouse had not been cooked and had not drowned, but instead died of a fractured skull.
Continues Below ↓
Carla Patterson wept on Wednesday as a judge imposed the jail sentence and a $2 500 fine.
Defence lawyer Michael Woods said Patterson planned to appeal.
Ricky Patterson's sentencing, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed until September 14. He is at Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail in Williamsburg after pleading guilty to forgery in an unrelated cheque-fraud case. - Sapa-AP
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on July 07, 2006
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
