Earlier this week, Miya Ponsetto, the so-called “SoHo Karen” who attacked a 14-year-old Black teen who she falsely accused of stealing her iPhone back in 2020, avoided jail time after striking a plea deal with prosecutors.
In a new interview with TMZ, the victim’s father, Keyon Harrold, and his attorney, Ben Crump, shared their thoughts on Ponsetto’s guilty plea.
“It is our belief, if Miya Ponsetto was an African American woman, and she committed assault and battery on a young white teenager, falsely, that she would have been charged and convicted of a felony,” Crump told the outlet. “There’s institutions that have the implicit bias cooked into their foundation. The individuals come and go, but the institutions produce the same outcomes.”
Harrold went on to reveal that Ponsetto has yet to apologize to his son.
“She’s never gone on the record to apologize to my son, not once,” he explained. “It’s traumatic to even think about, there’s trauma every time this is brought up.”
Harrold added, “I still don’t understand...what was going through her mind. What validated her, what made it even possible to attack a young kid in such a way. I don’t really understand it.”
As previously reported, Ponsetto will serve two years of probation with the possibility of downgrading her sentence to a misdemeanor. After 2 years, she can withdraw the hate crime plea and instead plead guilty to aggravated harassment in the second degree, which is not a felony.
“We are pleased that today’s proceeding brought this unfortunate misunderstanding closer to a final resolution,” her lawyer, Paul D’Emilia, said. “We are appreciative of the District Attorney’s thoughtful and empathetic approach to finding an acceptable conclusion.”
