The man who appeared in a YouTube video in April putting cheese up his nose, then on a pizza and passing gas on a sandwich apologized to Domino's Pizza and his former boss in Superior Court Tuesday.
Michael Setzer, 33, made the video along with fellow former Domino's employee Kristie Hammonds, 32, while the two were employed at the Conover Domino's location.
Both were arrested and charged with felony adulterating food.
Setzer pleaded guilty to the charge while admitting no wrongdoing in what is known as an Alford plea. He admits that the evidence against him is strong enough to produce a guilty plea but denies that the food he ruined was ever sold or served to customers.
Setzer's lawyer, Shawn Clark, said his client pleaded guilty because he wanted to take responsibility for his actions and the damage they caused.
"I've worked for him for a year and he is truly sorry," Clark said.
Setzer was given a six-month suspended sentence, 24 months of supervised supervision and ordered to have no contact with Hammonds or Domino's.
"What started off in his mind as a harmless prank has turned very bad," Clark said. "It had been a slow business day and they were just messing around."
As he left the courtroom Setzer said he was sorry for the damage he'd caused Domino's and the owner of the Conover franchise, Kevin Hendren.
His remorse came too late to salvage the business that Setzer admits had always been good to him.
The Conover Domino's location went out of business in the wake of the negative publicity following the discovery of the video that became an Internet sensation. The restaurant closed its doors in September.
Clark said Setzer had asked Hammonds to take the videos down from the Web site but it had spread before she could.
"It was like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube," Clark said.
Hammonds' Superior Court date is scheduled for June 28.
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