Prison for Va. woman who poisoned coworkers’ coffee

WASHINGTON — Disagreements, grudges, and anger are a reality in most offices, but a Loudoun County woman will spend more than three years in prison for poisoning her co-workers.

Mayda Edith Rivera Juarez, of Sterling, has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years after pleading guilty to adulteration of food with intent to injure or kill.

In 2016, several of Rivera Juarez’s co-workers at JAS Forwarding Worldwide, on Ocean Court in Sterling, reported nausea, stomach pain and vomiting.

After one co-worker realized all the employees who were sickened drank the office coffee, a supervisor reviewed security video.

According to Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the supervisor saw the 33-year-old Rivera Juarez pouring Windex into the water reservoir of the office coffee maker, which was located in the break room.

Rivera Juarez was fired.

Later, prosecutors said she admitted to detectives she intentionally put Windex in the coffee machine in an effort to make her supervisor sick. In addition, she acknowledged putting Ajax dish soap in the coffee machine, and even squirted it directly into her supervisor’s coffee cup.

Rivera Juarez had pleaded guilty in February, and was sentenced Tuesday.

After serving her prison time, she will be placed on three years of supervised probation.

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a reporter at WTOP since 1997. Through the years, Neal has covered many of the crimes and trials that have gripped the region. Neal's been pleased to receive awards over the years for hard news, feature reporting, use of sound and sports.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up