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Secretary who sold Coke secrets to Pepsi gets EIGHT YEARS

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Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010)

mudesi

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Wed May-23-07 04:53 PM
Original message

Secretary who sold Coke secrets to Pepsi gets EIGHT YEARS

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070523/coca-cola-trade-secrets

ATLANTA � A federal judge ignored a former Coca-Cola secretary's plea for mercy Wednesday and sentenced her to eight years in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from the world's largest beverage maker.

U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester told Joya Williams, 42, that he was giving her a longer sentence than recommended by federal prosecutors and sentencing guidelines because, "This is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society."

Williams had faced up to 10 years in prison on the single conspiracy charge in a failed scheme to sell Coke's trade secrets to rival PepsiCo Inc. for at least $1.5 million.

But sentencing guidelines, which federal judges are not bound by, called for a sentence of 63 months to 78 months. Williams was convicted Feb. 2 following a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, where The Coca-Cola Co. is based.

Am I crazy to think that an offense such as this deserves about 4 months and/or community service? Talk about a backwards society. I'm not saying that what this person did or attempted to do was right, but a punishment of 8 years is excessive considering the (relatively) victimless nature of this crime.

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Stinky The Clown

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Wed May-23-07 04:56 PM
Response to Original message

1. In an unrelated story, an American president who effected spying on his political opponents ....

... continues to walk free and wreak havoc on the world.

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Wed May-23-07 04:58 PM
Response to Original message

2. Especially considering the ingredients are on the label.

Edited on Wed May-23-07 04:59 PM by Bornaginhooligan

And thanks to LC/MS, it's trivial to determine the formula for anybody with a lab.

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depakid

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Wed May-23-07 05:04 PM
Response to Original message

3. Corporatocracy

always protects its own- while selling out the public interest.

How many instances of similar conduct can we think of that goes unprosecuted and where those engaging in MUCH WORSE conduct are never held accountable?

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gravity

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Wed May-23-07 05:11 PM
Response to Original message

4. It's a serious offense

We are talking about information that is worth millions of dollars.

Her punishment might have been a little excessive, but in a way, it's to prevent other employees to share secrets for millions of dollars, which is a huge incentive to cheat. There needs to be a punishment that is an effective deterrent

I just wish people higher up and in our governments would receive comparable punishments for similar offenses too.

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Wed May-23-07 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. No... not really.

Pepsi already knew the "secret" formula. Probably would have accepted it otherwise.

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gravity

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Wed May-23-07 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #5

9. The secrets were about future products

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Wed May-23-07 05:21 PM
Response to Reply #9

12. Oh, is this a different case...

than the one from a few months ago?

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rucky

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Wed May-23-07 05:13 PM
Response to Original message

6. The streets are safe again! n/t

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Critters2

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Wed May-23-07 05:24 PM
Response to Reply #6

14. I know I'll sleep tonight

Limited civil liberties, don't know where my food comes from, workers not being paid a living wage, illegal war...but the REAL bad people are being punished. Gotta protect the corporations!

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Iris

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Wed May-23-07 05:31 PM
Response to Reply #6

18. Yeah! Pass the sugar-water! n/t

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rasputin1952

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Wed May-23-07 05:14 PM
Response to Original message

7. 8 yrs is more than some drug dealers get...

:wtf:

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Neecy

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Wed May-23-07 05:15 PM
Response to Original message

8. when you offend against a huge multinational corporation...

Expect to get the book thrown at you.

When you offend against the Constitution, no problem...

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Xithras

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Wed May-23-07 05:20 PM
Response to Original message

10. Disagree. She deserves the prison.

First off, she didn't try to steal the recipe for Coke and give it to Pepsi. Pepsi has had that recipe for years. Her intent was to steal recipes for products that hadn't launched yet and provide THOSE to Pepsi.

If she was able to get $1.5 million for the recipes, then it stands to reason that the products she stole had a market value of at least $1.5 million as well. You may not like soda or think it's worth anything, but the fact still stands that she tried to steal and sell at least $1.5 million dollars worth of property from her employer. There are a lot of people serving long prison sentences for stealing far less.

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gravity

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Wed May-23-07 05:22 PM
Response to Reply #10

13. She also lied in court, which made the judge raise her sentence

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Initech

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Wed May-23-07 05:21 PM
Response to Original message

11. And people wonder why wer're fucked up as a country...

President lies about going to war that gets several hundred thousand killed, and gets nothing.

Sell soft drink secrets to a rival competitor? HOLY SHIT!!!!! :wow:

:eyes:

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conspirator

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Wed May-23-07 05:26 PM
Response to Original message

15. I would do the same. But instead I would post the secret on the internet and spam it.

But I would try not to get caught of course.
Sabotate all corporations!

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Exiled in America

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Wed May-23-07 05:27 PM
Response to Original message

16. In other news, Rapist gets 3 years. :/

WTF is wrong with this country.

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Bucky

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Wed May-23-07 05:29 PM
Response to Original message

17. Technically, neither theft nor perjery are victimless crimes.

Coke's recipe is intellectual property. The theft is not less serious just because Coca Cola is a successful and wealthy corporation.

I do have to wonder what she thought Pepsi would do with this recipe. The two sodas have distinct flavors. People who drink Pepsi like the Pepsi flavor, so I doubt Pepsi could gain much market share from either changing their flagship drink or introducing a new coke-like-flavored pop that lacked the name ID of Coca-Cola, which is 95% of what sells Coke anyway.

But lying in front of the judge--man, that's just stoopid.

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