Mass. Woman Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for $200k Glass-Eating Scheme

BOSTON (CBS/AP) A Massachusetts couple wasn't trying to break any world records when they intentionally ate glass particles. Instead, the couple's purpose was to swindle insurance companies out of more than $200,000.

Mary Evano was sentenced to more than four years in prison Tuesday for purposefully eating shards of glass and then submitting false insurance claims. She was also ordered to pay more than $340,000 in restitution.

Federal prosecutors alleged that between 1997 and 2005, Evano and her husband, Ronald Evano, collected the more than $200,000 in compensation after filing insurance claims that they were injured by hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores that served them food containing pieces of glass.

Mary Evano, 49, pleaded guilty to a 23-count federal indictment charging her with fraud, conspiracy and other offenses. Her husband is currently serving a five-year prison term after pleading guilty in 2007.

The couple incurred more than $100,000 in medical bills for their dangerous, misleading stunts. Those bills remain unpaid.