Photos: ‘Chili Finger Lady,’ Anna Ayala, back in court for filing a false police report
February 22, 2013
Anna Ayala departs from her court appearance in which she didn't enter a plea on Feb. 22, 2013 at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Anna Ayala's son, Guadalupe Reyes, makes a court appearance but didn't enter a plea on Feb. 22, 2013 at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Guadalupe Reyes, left, and his mother, Anna Ayala, make a court appearance but didn't enter a plea on Feb. 22, 2013 at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Anna Ayala's son, Guadalupe Reyes, makes a court appearance but didn't enter a plea on Feb. 22, 2013 at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Anna Ayala makes a court appearance but didn't enter a plea on Feb. 22, 2013 at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Mary Ayala, Anna Ayala's sister speaks to the media on Feb. 22, 2013 outside of the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger placed in a bowl of fast-food chili, was arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report. Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said. Reyes later changed the story. (Dai Sugano/Staff)
Anna Ayala, 41, is escorted into a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006, for a sentencing hearing. Ayala was sentenced to nine years in prison for planting a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a failed attempt to extort money from the fast food chain. Her husband, Jaime Plascencia , was ordered locked up for more than 12 years. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala, the mastermind behind the infamous Wendy's chili finger scam, is back in jail on charges she filed a false police report involving her son. (Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office)
Genesis Reyes, 13, right, describes how police detained her and allegedly hurt her arm as they executed a search warrant at the Las Vegas home of her mother, Anna Ayala, Thursday, April 7, 2005. Looking on are family friend Ken Bono, 24, who lives at the residence, and cousin Priscilla Chavarin, 16. Ayala, who claims she bit into a human finger while eating chili at a Wendy's restaurant, has a history of filing lawsuits, including a claim against another fast-food restaurant. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, K.M. Cannon)
Anna Ayala appears in Justice Court in Las Vegas at the Clark County Courthouse, Tuesday, April 26, 2005. Ayala who claimed she found a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili in San Jose, Calif., faces attempted grand theft charges, yet where that finger originated is apparently still a mystery. Ayala waived extradition to California.(AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
This March 23, 2005, black and white photo released by the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health in San Jose, Calif., shows a portion of a human finger that Anna Ayala claims she found while eating a bowl of chili at a Wendy's Restaurant in San Jose, Calif., on March 22. Ayala, 39, who hired a San Jose, Calif., attorney to represent her in the Wendy's case, has been involved in at least half a dozen legal battles in the San Francisco Bay area, according to court records. (APPhoto/Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health)
The exterior of a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Calif., is shown Thursday, March 24, 2005 where Anna Ayala claimed she scooped up a human finger in her chili at a Wendy's restaurant. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala, who claims to have found a human finger in a cup of Wendy's chili was charged with two felony counts, one involving the Wendy's finger case. Ayala was extradited from Las Vegas to San Jose Friday, May 6, 2005 and is expected to be arraigned next week. (Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office)
Jaime Plascencia, the husband of Anna Ayala, who are now both infamous for the "finger in the bowl of Wendy's chili" caper. Plascencia was formally booked into the Santa Clara County detention center, to await trial on "deadbeat dad" charges. But he could also face charges similar to those of his wife, that of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, in the Wendy's case. The D.A. is still determining his culpability.(HANDOUT)
Anna Ayala waves, to the press, while waiting in the holding cell before being arraigned inside the courtroom at the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose on May 9, 2005. Santa Clara County prosecutors believe Ayala planted the finger in the chili as a way to attempt to give herself the grounds to sue the parent company of the fast food chain Wendy's Hamburgers. (Joanne Ho-Young Lee/San Jose Mercury News)
Anna Ayala's family members (names were not given) wait outside the courtroom for Ayala's arraignment at the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose on May 9, 2005. About a dozen family and friends came to the courthouse to show their support for Ayala, all wearing a t-shirt that said, " We Support Anna Ayala" in the front and "Innocent" in the back. (Joanne Ho-Young Lee/San Jose Mercury News)
James Placencia enters court Friday May 20, 2005 in San Jose, Calif. Placencia, 43, is the husband of Anna Ayala, who is accused of planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Placencia appeared briefly on unrelated charges of failure to pay child support. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
Anna Ayala hides her face as she enters a court room Thursday July 28, 2005 inside Santa Clara County superior court in San Jose. Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, who also appeared in the court are facing charges with grand theft related to the infamous "finger in the bowl of Wendy's chili" scam. (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS/DAI SUGANO)
Anna Ayala, center left, talks with her attorney, Rick Ehler, far left, as her husband, Jamie Placencia, far right, talks with an interpreter, in a San Jose, Calif. courtroom, Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 before they pleaded guilty of all charges related to planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Ayala and Placencia both pleaded guilty on Friday to conspire to file a false claim and attempting grand theft from the fast food restaurant chain. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Wendy's restaurant cook Hector Pineda testifies against Anna Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, in a Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. 'I felt so bad for the fear of what people would think of me,' testified Pineda, who made the chili and initially came under suspicion. 'We are the ones that have suffered.' (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Joseph Desmond, owner of Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Calif., testifies against Anna Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, in a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Plascencia and Ayala, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili at Desmond's restaurant to extort money from the fast food chain, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala, 41, cries as she listens to Wendy's employees testify Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006, in a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif. Ayala was sentenced to nine years and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, was sentenced to more than 12 years for their roles in planting a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast-food chain. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala apologizes to Wendy's employees Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006, in Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif. Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili to extort money from the fast food chain, were sentenced to at least nine years in prison. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala, left, and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, right, exchange words after they were sentenced in a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., courtroom, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Ayala and Plascencia, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili to extort money from the fast food chain were sentenced to Wednesday. Ayala, 40, was sentenced to nine years and Plascencia was sentenced to more than 12 years. In center is an unidentified interpreter. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Jaime Plascencia, smiles as he is escorted into a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Plascencia, and his wife, Anna Ayala, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili to extort money from the fast food chain, were sentenced to up to nine years in prison. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Jaime Plascencia, 44, listens to a translation in a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Plascencia, and his wife Anna Ayala, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili to extort money from the fast food chain, were sentenced to up to nine years in prison. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Anna Ayala's sister, Mary Ayala, left, and Anna Ayala's daughter, Genesis Reyes, right, leave a Santa Clara County Superior Court in a San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 after Ayala and her husband Jaime Plascencia were sentenced. Plascencia and Ayala, who cooked up a scheme last March to plant a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili to extort money from the fast food chain, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Mary Ayala (left) sister of Anna Ayala and Genesis Reyes, daughter of Anna Ayala exit a Santa Clara County Courthouse after the sentencing of Anna Ayala and husband Jaime Plascencia on January 18, 2006, for their caper in which they attempted to defraud the Wendy's Hamburgers chain by claiming Ayala found a tip of a human finger in a bowl of chili purchased as a southside Wendy's restaurant. Turns out the finger tip was real but it was acquired by Plascencia from a co-worker who lost the digit tip in an industrial accident. He sold it to Plascencia for $50 to settle a debt. (Rick E. Martin/ Mercury News)
Categories: News, U.S. National
Tags: photo