Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Tamer El-Ghobashy PLEA DEAL PUTS TEEN ON PATH TO COLLEGE With leaders of the noted Abyssinian Baptist Church sitting behind her, a 17-year-old Harlem youth stood in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday and listened to the terms of a plea agreement that would spare her a possible 25-year prison sentence for her role in a crack-cocaine ring. Afrika Owes, a former private-school student, was then placed in handcuffs and taken by court officers to begin a 90-day jail term at Rikers Island. Under the plea deal, she will be free in time to begin her senior year of high school and apply to college. If she complies with other terms, she will be designated as a youthful offender-a status that seals the arrest. Ms. Owes, who was once a scholarship student at the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, was arrested in February and accused of being part of a Harlem drug crew. Her arrest mobilized the Abyssinian Baptist Church membership, which voted to post her $25,000 bail after she spent two months at Rikers. Before her arrest, Ms. Owes had transferred from Deerfield to a public school in Manhattan. Prosecutors said Ms. Owes was the gang leader's girlfriend and carried his guns and relayed instructions to gang members while he spent time in prison in 2009 and 2010. She was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy. On Tuesday, her attorney Elsie Chandler told the court that Ms. Owes planned to plead guilty to those charges July 7 but asked that she be allowed to begin her jail term early so it ends before the start of the school year. She detailed the plea agreement, noting that Ms. Owes agreed to court supervision and a court-imposed curfew. She said the supervision and curfew will remain in effect until Ms. Owes is admitted into college. "Everyone understands that teenagers sometimes don't have the best judgment," Ms. Chandler said outside the court room. "Afrika, here, is taking responsibility for her own errors of judgment." The leadership of the Abyssinian Baptist Church said it supported the plea agreement and pledged to continue supporting Ms. Owes. "The church, overall, is pleased with the results we saw today," said Gerald Barbour, a deacon at the church where Ms. Owes and her family have been parishioners. "You don't see a young lady here by herself. You see a church behind her." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D