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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.

Coca-Cola secretary gets 8 years in slammer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 May 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>J. Owen ForresterJ.OwenForresterJoya WilliamsJoyaWilliamsKOPEPThu, 24 May 2007 14:00:00 EST