A Washington man will be spending more than two years behind bars for a nasty prank he played on a police officer while working at McDonald's.
Former McDonald's worker, Dalton Ursulean, will spend a minimum of 29 months in prison for an August 2012 incident in which he spit into a snack wrap and served it to uniformed police officer, Tom Unger.
According to the Iron Mountain Daily News, Unger entered the McDonald's in Iron Mountain, Mich., and ordered a snack wrap. While preparing the order Ursulean, of nearby Niagara, Wis., spit on the wrap and served it to the officer.
Ursulean was arrested after telling a coworker he, "spit a nasty 'loogie' in that cop's wrap."
The 24-year-old was sentenced Monday in Dickinson County Circuit Court on one felony count of placing harmful objects in food. During the sentencing hearing, attorneys for the prosecution and defense informed the court that Ursulean has tested positive for the infectious disease hepatitis C.
Unger, an officer with the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, has tested negative for the disease, according to the Iron Mountain Daily News Ursulean's attorney Geoffrey Sparks emphasized that his client was unaware of his infection until recently.
"He had no idea until the blood tests came back," Sparks said. "He was very alarmed when he found out about it. He's made poor choices in his past, but he's also grown up. He now knows what it takes to succeed."
A fellow employee testified in December 2012 that he saw Ursulean spit into officer's food. According to his attorney, Ursulean is now aware that his actions were "dumb and disgusting," but despite his apology and his completion of his GED over the last 347 days in jail, Judge Mary Barglind noted that Ursuelan has had nine incidents in jail.
Prior to his arrest Ursuelan had a record of felonies and misdemeanors including three felonies and six misdemeanors, including assault, obstructing police and delivering Vicodin, CBS Detroit notes.
When given a chance to address the court, Ursulean apologized to the victim, the court, and his family.
"I'm sorry for all this that's transpired here," he said. "I want to get out there and actually do right."
According to Iron Mountain Daily News, it is a felony a to place "harmful objects" in food.
"The maximum penalty for the charge is usually 10 years in prison, but Ursulean's habitual offender status increases the maximum penalty in this case to 20 years in prison," the Mountain Daily News reported.
