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Coca-Cola Recipe Thieves Plead Guilty

Two men who have been charged with trying to steal trade secrets from major soft drink company, Coca Cola, pleaded guilty on Monday in an Atlanta court. On July 12, the two men, along with a Coca Cola employee, were indicted by the judicial system for trying to steal Coca Cola?s secret recipe and sell it to the rival beverage company, Pepsi. Coca Cola and Pepsi have long been at battle in a bid to try and grab market domination in an industry that produces billions of dollars annually.

The (former) Coca Cola employee, 41 year-old Joya Williams pleaded not guilty to the charges and she is awaiting her trial, due to begin on November 13th. Williams is out free on a $25,000 bond. Among the charges brought against her is that she intended selling Coca Cola?s trade secrets to Pepsi for $1.5-million.

The two non-employees involved in the incident are 30 year-old Ibrahim Dimson of New York and 43 year-old Edward Duhaney of Atlanta. Both men are charged with replicating and transmitting the trade secrets, as well as receiving and possessing them. As mentioned, Dimson and Duhaney both pleaded guilty to all charges against them and they will be sentenced at the end of January, 2007. Besides a fine of up to $250,000 that the men might be required to pay, they face up to 10 years in prison for their crimes.