Woman who falsely accused Black teen of stealing her phone pleads guilty to hate crime [View all]
Plea deal spares Miya Ponsetto of prison after charges from 2020 incident in which she tackled 14-year-old at Manhattan hotel
Gloria Oladipo in New York and agencies
@gaoladipo
Tue 12 Apr 2022 12.03 EDT
A California woman who went viral in 2020 for wrongly accusing a Black teen of taking her phone at a New York City hotel has reached a plea deal to spare her prison if she avoids further trouble.
Miya Ponsetto, 23, pleaded guilty on Monday to unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, which is a felony, but will have a chance to re-plead to a misdemeanor aggravated harassment charge if she follows the terms of the agreement.
Ponsetto was ordered to complete a two-year probation stemming from a separate drunk driving and resisting arrest case, continue receiving counsel and have no further arrests. If she violates the agreement, she could face up to four years in prison, prosecutors said.
The charges stemmed from a December 2020 incident in which Ponsetto falsely accused Keyon Harrold Jr, a Black teenager and the son of the jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, of stealing her phone at the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/12/miya-ponsetto-guily-plea-hate-crime-phone
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