Joya Williams, the Coca-Cola secretary who was accused of steading trade secrets from Coca-Cola and plotting to sell them to Pepsi, has been found guilty of conspiracy. The jury deliberated for 11 1/2 hours before reaching a verdict.

Williams was the secretary to Coca-Cola’s global brand director until the allegations of trade secret theft. It was alleged that she stole samples of not-yet-released products, and gave them to Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney to sell to Pepsi. They were hoping to get $1.5 million for the samples.

Duhaney testified that Williams came up with the scheme. The prosecutors said Williams’s motivation was deep debt, unhappiness in her job, and a desire for a big payday.

The defense said that Dimson and Duhaney actually stole the samples and related documents from Williams’s home without her knowledge, and came up with the scheme to sell the items to Pepsi on their own. Williams testified that she left a key under her doormat for one of the defendants, and that is probably how they got in the house.

She says that she had the samples and documents at home to protect herself in case her boss questioned whether or not she was doing her job. Williams also claimed that $4,000 cash she deposited into her bank account days after Dimson received $30,000 cash from an undercover FBI agent, was actaully a loan from a friend. The friend testified that the most he ever loaned her was $400, and that was after she was arressted in this case.
Williams faces up to 10 years in prison. Dimson and Duhaney have both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.