LEWISTON - On Monday, Nicholas Plagman was a freelance writer making five bucks for an embellished story about a ham. By Wednesday night, he was nationally known, in hot water with at least two news agencies and more than a little bewildered by the whole thing.

Plagman, who lives in Atlanta, says he has no idea how Fox News picked up his story on Tuesday. In fact, he had no idea the parody about an incident in Lewiston had become national news at all, until Wednesday afternoon when he heard about it on the radio.

"I was just trying to do like they do on 'The Daily Show,'" said Plagman, 24. "I just write about stories in the news... stuff that's interesting. I didn't think it would have such a big audience."

Plagman, who is educated in biology rather than journalism, writes an occasional story for a Web site called Associated Content. Earlier this month, he found a story about a middle school student in Lewiston accused of harassing a Somali classmate by placing a ham on the table in the school cafeteria.

The incident has been labeled by some as a hate crime. To Plagman, that was just absurd enough to write about with his own blend of exaggeration. So he embellished quotes and attributed them to a school superintendent, a man who runs the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, and a Somali student.

Plagman defended his decision to quote real people as saying things they never uttered. It is part of the parody process, he said.

"Has anyone noticed that the first half of every quote is real?" Plagman said.

In fact, many people noticed. They noticed particularly after Fox presented Plagman's story as real news in a national broadcast on Tuesday. Other nationally broadcast radio and television news agencies ran with the story as well, and it was only after NBC called the Sun Journal to verify the story that the hoax was uncovered.

The result: A flood of nasty calls and e-mails to Lewiston High School, shame on the part of Fox, and disgust expressed by The Associated Press, the Lewiston Sun Journal and those who had been misquoted.

"I think it's unfortunate because if you look at it as a parody, it's fine," Plagman said. "From most of the feedback I've seen, people can see that it's a parody."

Lawyers for the AP are reviewing Plagman's story and will take legal action if they feel it is warranted, according to Larry Laughlin, bureau chief in Northern New England.

Plagman on Wednesday was not sure if he was in trouble or not.

"I don't know if they're looking for someone to blame, or what," he said.

He received a message from someone at Associated Content Wednesday afternoon. It was clear by the voice of the caller that the ham story was becoming a thornier issue than Plagman is used to.

"He seemed flabbergasted," Plagman said. "He seemed kind of desperate to get in touch with me."

By Wednesday night, Associated Content had put a disclaimer above Plagman's story. It stated: "This is not an actual news story. It is a parody."

Plagman was told not to discuss the situation with the press. He decided to speak with the Sun Journal after the people from Associated Content failed to call him back. It is important, he said, that people understand that humor was his only ambition when he took liberties with the nationally publicized story.

"I just write to make people laugh," he said. "I like to point out the silliness of the situation."

Plagman had no idea, even Wednesday night when he was interviewed, that Lewiston has a sizable Somali population. He had not heard that there was occasional conflict between some residents and Somali members of the community. He meant no offense to anybody when he wrote his parody, he said. As a rule, he tries to avoid insulting anyone and he eschews hot button issues.

"I'm very apolitical," Plagman said. "I don't watch the news because it's boring and depressing."

He did have his own opinions on the so-called ham incident, but he said it was not those opinions that compelled him to spoof the story. To Plagman, the idea that the student who unleashed the ham was suspended for two weeks and labeled as a racist was too preposterous to resist.

"I think he was being a jerk and he should be punished," Plagman said. "But the whole thing about the hate crime is ... pushing it."

For the most part, the feedback Plagman received after writing his less-than-factual story has been positive. Some readers of Associated Content enjoyed it and said they will read more of his work, Plagman said.

But on Wednesday, he remained baffled by the uproar the spoof had caused. The erroneous quotes were his own creation, he said, and they were meant to be amusing. But it was his belief that the story of ham inspiring such bitterness and debate was bizarre enough on its own. Such a story, he said, doesn't need much embellishing.

"I wrote my article a week or two after the story came out," he said. "I wasn't the first one to make a big deal out of it."