Coke secrets plot woman is jailed

Joya Williams, 42, was sentenced in Atlanta - Coca Cola's home - after being found guilty in February.

Then the court heard she stole confidential documents and samples of new products, passing them to two men to sell to Pepsi for at least $1.5m.

Co-conspirator Ibrahim Dimson received a jail term of five years.

Both he and another man, Edmund Duhaney, had pleaded guilty.

Fake sale

"This is the kind of offence that cannot be tolerated in our society," District Judge J Owen Forrester said when sentencing Williams, according to the Associated Press (AP)

The three were charged last July with stealing product samples and confidential documents from Coca-Cola and trying to sell them to PepsiCo's Pepsi unit.

After the offer was made, PepsiCo contacted Coca-Cola and co-operated with FBI officials who held undercover meetings with Mr Dimson.

Investigators arranged a fake sale of the material for $1.5m (£800,000) and caught Ms Williams on camera putting papers and samples in her bag, the prosecution said.

She was an administrative assistant for Coke's global brand director at the firm's Atlanta headquarters.

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