Woman who falsely accused Black teen of stealing her phone pleads guilty to hate crime

[Judi Lynn]

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

[no_hypocrisy]

1. A public apology on the record would have been nice . . . . .

[DFW]

2. I

Would have given her jail time. Maybe only three months, but at least enough so that she got a taste of what was to come if she stepped out of line again. So far, it’s all theoretical to her. She and her lawyer are just keeping score.

[exboyfil]

3. Not just accused - Battered a child

[Me.]

4. And Once Again

No real consequences

[slightlv]

5. Didn't they used to send black kids to jail to

"scare them straight"?

I think that's the least they could have done to this 23 year old adult who should have known better.