Appeals Court Upholds Coca-Cola Trade Secrets Convictions

In an opinion published Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the convictions and prison sentences of Joya Williams and Ibrahim Dimson for conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. Williams, an executive assistant at Coca-Cola in Atlanta, was convicted in February 2007 of taking confidential trade information from Coke and trying to sell it to Pepsi through her friend Edmund Duhaney and Dimson. Pepsi contacted the FBI after being contacted by Dimson. Williams was sentenced to eight years in prison; Dimson received a five year sentence. Duhaney, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, was sentenced to two years in prison.

The appellate court rejected Williams’ claims that the presiding judge violated her Sixth Amendment rights by limiting her cross-examination of Duhaney and improperly instructed the jury on the meaning of reasonable doubt. The court also rejected Williams’ and Dimson’s claim that their sentences were unreasonable compared to Duhaney’s two-year sentence (AP/Forbes).