A jury convicted a woman on federal tampering charges Thursday, rejecting her claim that she was just trying to get attention when she put a syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi.
The U.S. District Court jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Gail Levine, 62, who looked pale but showed no reaction when the verdict was read.She could be sentenced to three years in prison and fined $250,000. Levine attorney Raymond Moore had no comment.
During the trial, Moore did not dispute that Levine had put the syringe in the can June 15 at an Aurora grocery store. But he argued that the government did not prove that the can was in interstate commerce or that she intended to cause serious injury to Pepsico Inc., two elements necessary to convict her.
Prosecutor Tom O'Rourke told the jury a supermarket videotape of Levine "shows the criminal mind at work - it shows not only that she tainted the can but did it with criminal intent." He said Levine called a lawyer the next day because she planned to sue.
Moore contended that Levine simply wanted to see herself on TV. After she said she found the syringe, she did not go to a doctor or a lawyer to document a lawsuit, Moore said: "The rest of the day, she gets on the phone and calls everyone she can think of and says, `Did you see me on TV?' "
She called a lawyer only after her manicurist told her news reports suggested she had put the syringe in the can, Moore said. "She was desperate for attention and affection," Moore told the jury. "This is a woman in need and in pain who goes about getting what she needs in an admittedly clumsy manner."