Coronavirus: Pennsylvania woman who coughed on food gets prison term

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman who deliberately coughed on food at a supermarket was sentenced to one to two years in jail.

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Margaret Ann Cirko, 37, of Hanover Township, also was sentenced to eight years of probation and was ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution, The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre reported. Cirko was also ordered to undergo mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations, the newspaper reported.

Cirko pleaded guilty to a felony weapons of mass destruction charge in June, a second-degree felony, WNEP reported.

Cirko deliberately coughed on food at Gerrity’s Supermarket in Hanover Township in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning, The Citizens’ Voice reported.

During her sentencing Tuesday, Cirko apologized for her actions.

“I’m sorry for what I did that day,” Cirko told the court. “I wish I could take it back.”

“I do too,” Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough responded. “It was totally outrageous conduct.”

>> Coronavirus: Woman charged with contaminating $35K worth of food at Pennsylvania grocery store

According to Joe Fasula, co-owner of the supermarket, Gerrity’s lost $35,000 worth of food that had to be thrown out.

According to an arrest report, Cirko entered Gerrity’s on March 25, 2020, at a time when COVID-19 was rapidly spreading throughout Pennsylvania.

Cirko began yelling, “I have the virus. Now everyone is going to get sick” before coughing and spitting on food and merchandise in the store, according to The Citizens’ Voice.

After her arrest, Cirko was arraigned in the back of a patrol car to curb the potential threat of spreading the coronavirus.

Cirko’s attorney, Thomas Cometa, said his client later tested negative for coronavirus, the newspaper reported.

He said she realizes the seriousness of the “crazy threat” she made, adding that she was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

“It’s not an excuse but it is an explanation,” Cometa said.

Fasula said he was “kind of relieved” that the trial is over.

“I do feel bad for her. It seems like she really has a lot of issues, and she needs a lot of help,” Fasula told WNEP. “I’m just glad that this sets a precedent to anybody else that might think of doing something like this, that there’s repercussions.”

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