Superworms Eat Nuclear Waste ?

Man Pleads No Contest to Worm Scam                        .c The Associated Press

     AZTEC, N.M. (AP) - A man has pleaded no contest to bilking at least a dozen people out of $15,000 by selling them ``California Red Superworms'' that he claimed ate nuclear waste.

Thomas Stanley Huntington entered the pleas Thursday to six counts of fraud and one charge of issuing a worthless check. Eight other charges were dismissed in a plea bargain.

The worms sold at $500 for four pounds. A brochure promised ``Easiest job ever!'' and said the worms could be used as a breeding stock to supply the federal government's as-yet-unopened nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad.

Huntington, 52, of Farmington faces up to 12 years in prison. His sentencing wasn't scheduled.

AP-NY-06-12-98 2026EDT

 Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.  The information  contained in the AP news report may not be published,  broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without  prior written authority of The Associated Press.