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.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. To crown Joya as one of the laughingstocks of the corporate world this year or to see other dumbest moments in business, go here.

It's a really tough year for mediocre corporate scandals, you know the ones: options backdating, restated earnings. Yawn. No other year in memory has been so excellent as fodder for the BloggingStocks-sponsored musical (you know we're going to win a dozen Tonys): The Really Stupid Corporate Spy Who Loved Me. It's kind of a mouthful, but just wait until you hear it set to music.

And wait until you get to the opening scene, Amey Stone has already written some of the dialogue. It's set in a park somewhere in the city of Atlanta (envision: 1996 Olympics logo still visible in the background). There are some people in dark trench coats and red polo shirts, handing off a box of Girl Scout cookies to some people in dark trench coats and bright blue polo shirts. Inside? The secret recipe to Coca-Cola.

The real story is nearly just as much fun. Joya Williams, an administrative assistant, called someone at PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) claiming to be a Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) executive. Named "Dirk." [Shivers of love over how adorably stupid this all is!] She offered to sell a number of trade secrets, including a sample of a new Coca-Cola beverage, to the company's rivals. The FBI then got involved and stuffed cash in a box of Girl Scout cookies to do the handoff. Now? The poor woman's going on trial for stealing trade secrets and confidential documents in January.