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Former Lakeland cook gets 7 years for putting poison in Yum Yum Sauce

Margarito Padilla is accused of adding lye to the yum yum sauce in the restaurant where he worked.

A Lakeland man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for putting deadly plumber's lye into the sauce at a restaurant where he worked.
 
A local news outlet reported that Margarito Padilla, 54, pleaded no contest to introducing a chemical into a food or drink, as part of a deal with prosecutors.
 
Lakeland police said Padilla was arrested in June after the owner of Hibachi Express watched surveillance video that showed Padilla access a container of poisonous drain cleaner and then head to the area where the Yum Yum Sauce was kept. The owner had checked the video after tasting the sauce during a routine inspection, and feeling his mouth burn.
 
Padilla confessed to tainting the sauce because he was unhappy about working conditions.

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group

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