Joya Williams, 42, cried in court and begged for leniency. But federal judge J. Owen Forrester ignored her pleas and sentenced her to eight years in prison. Her crime? Trying to sell a formula for sugar water.As The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog reports today, Judge Forrester viewed Ms. Williams' crime as particularly worthy of punishment. He even gave her a longer sentence than suggested by the federal sentencing guidelines. He stated that "this is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society" as he handed down the eight-year sentence, several years longer than the five to six years called for in the sentencing guidelines.
Ms. Williams worked as a secretary at Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO). Apparently she stole documents and product samples and along with a few other people tried to sell them to PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). The plan quickly fell apart when Pepsi warned Coca-Cola that it had received a letter offering Coke's trade secrets to the "highest bidder."
It seems that the judge was particularly angry that Ms. Williams refused to admit her guilt until the trial was over, and that her resistance led to the long sentence. But it's odd to think that the secret formula for a product that is mostly water (see here for some possible recipes) could lead to such suffering. Sure, Coke is a billion dollar commodity, but in the end, it's just sugar water. Going to jail for stealing a recipe for sugar water seems more like a definition of the absurd than an expression of justice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-24-2007 @ 2:25PM
Scott said...
Micheal, I just read your post regarding the Coke Secretary. Your thinking is exactly what is wrong with our society! It was not what she stoled and tried to sell to the highest bidder, IT IS THAT SHE STOLE COMPANY SECRETS, IT IS THAT SHE STOLE, PERIOD! Wrong is wrong and stealing a receipe for sugar water is still STEALING!
SHE GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED. QUIT LIVING IN THE GRAY AREA. THERE IS NO SUCH THING!
5-24-2007 @ 2:48PM
Lewis said...
Five to six under the guidelines seem harsh to me for a first time, non violent offender. But to have an additional two or three years added on b/c she wanted a trial...I guess the saying is right: the criminal justice system has nothing to do with justice.
5-24-2007 @ 2:49PM
John said...
Theft is wrong. Just ask anyone that has had something taken from them. I have no sympathy for a thief, especially someone that violated the trust her company may have put in her. Maybe if everyone was faced with the fact of long prison instead of a slap on wrist and on you go, they would be less inclined to take the chance.
5-24-2007 @ 3:17PM
MARCY said...
I PERHAPS COULD UNDERSTAND THEFT IS YOU ARE STEALING A LOAF OF BREAD TO FEED YOUR FAMILY; BUT THIS GREED. HURRAY FOR THE JUDGE!
5-24-2007 @ 3:44PM
Joanne said...
Scott hit the nail on the head. I was shocked to read that "only stealing sugar water" was then OK because it was not important. Betraying the company which supplies one's livelihood is extreme wickedness. Lying is extreme wickedness! Our country was not built on those two behaviors. Trust and truth must be woven daily into the fabric of a functioning society. It used to be in our country that a man was as good as his word. A handshake was all that was necessary to do business. Oh that those behaviors would return to the 21st century.
5-24-2007 @ 4:18PM
Rick said...
Having learned about corporate ethics from Pepsi 25 years ago when I first started my current employment stint with a company they then owned, it was refreshing to hear that Pepsi is still high on ethics. i.e. letting Coke know that someone was trying to sell them Coke's secrets.
As far as the punishment, it really doesn't matter if it was sugar water or $$. Stealing is a crime.
Maybe in your world Michael it okay but here on the front lines of corporate america
5-25-2007 @ 9:47AM
Julie said...
Michael, based on your thoughtless comments, did you ever stop to think what the ramifications would have been if she had actually sold the secret? Thousands upon thousands of people would have suffered. We are not talking about just a corporation but all of the every day HONEST (not theives) people that coca-cola employs. Surely their lives would have been effected by the results. So she just wasn't stealing a sugar water receipe, she was on a path to stealing peoples livelyhoods.
5-26-2007 @ 7:54PM
Bill said...
Mike, you're a synptom of what's wrong in the world today, where everyone tries to "justify" their actions and lay off blame. I'd never seek to do business with you...even if you were a cashier in a 7-11 selling "sugar water"...which is what you appear better suited for.