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Miya Ponsetto found guilty after accusing 14 year old boy for stealing her phone

Miya Ponsetto

Miya Ponsetto found guilty after accusing 14 year old boy for stealing her phone

The district attorney’s office said Monday that the California woman charged with a ‘hate crime’ for ostensibly wrongly accusing a Black teen of taking her phone at a Manhattan hotel in December 2020 and clutching at him as he tried to leave has pleaded guilty.

Miya Ponsetto had previously pleaded not guilty last summer to charges including unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, aggravated harassment, and child endangerment in the fray that unfolded at the Arlo Hotel with then-14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr.

Video shows her grabbing at him as he tried to get away. Her phone was found soon afterward in an Uber.

 

The Manhattan district attorney’s office offered Ponsetto a plea deal in February, one that would require the 23-year-old to lead a “law-abiding life” for the next two years, which includes compliance with California probation officers in relation to another case, and continue to receive counseling.

She would face prison time if she were to violate the terms of the agreement.

Ponsetto pleaded guilty to that felony hate crime charge, the top count against her, District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Monday.

“This plea ensures appropriate accountability for Ms. Ponsetto by addressing principal causes for her behavior and ensuring this conduct does not reoccur,” said Bragg, adding that “as a Black man, I have personally experienced racial profiling countless times in my life and I sympathize with the young man victimized in this incident.”

 

Bragg’s office said it would agree to her withdrawing the plea to the felony charge in exchange for a second-degree aggravated harassment guilty plea, which is a misdemeanor. She also wouldn’t be subject to any additional jail time, according to the deal.

 

Ponsetto did not answer questions as she left court Monday with her attorney. There was no immediate response from the Harrold family after the plea deal was announced.

The Piru woman was arrested in January 2021 on other charges in connection with the hostility involving Harrold Jr. She initially seemed to apologize but later backed off in a tense interview on a morning CBS news show.

 

The teenager’s family earlier filed a lawsuit against Ponsetto and the hotel, alleging ethnic profiling. It alleged he was “violently accosted” by Ponsetto and that hotel manager Chad Nathan helped her and demanded that the teenager turn over his phone for inspection.

The lawsuit’s status wasn’t immediately clear Monday.

 

The hotel has since expressed regret to the teenager and his father, a noted jazz musician, for the “inexcusable experience” they tolerated.