‘Soho Karen’ Miya Ponsetto could skirt jail time under plea deal
Miya Ponsetto — dubbed “Soho Karen” after she falsely accused a black teenager of swiping her cellphone at a Manhattan hotel — has struck a plea deal that would allow her to dodge jail time, it was revealed Monday.
Under the agreement, detailed during a virtual hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, the 23-year-old would cop to the top count against her, unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime.
She’d then be required to “live a law-abiding life” for the next two years, continue with her therapy and abide by the terms of her probation in California, where she lives, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Marquez said.
If Ponsetto can manage that, the Manhattan DA’s Office will give her the chance to withdraw her guilty plea to the felony, and instead cop to aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, for which she’d be sentenced to time served.
Should she fail to abide by the terms, Ponsetto could face 1 1/2 to 3 years behind bars.
Ponsetto’s defense attorney Paul D’Emilia indicated his client wanted to proceed with the deal — but she’ll have to fly back to New York to actually enter the plea in person, Justice Laura Ward said.
The former cheerleader from Simi Valley, Calif., video-conferenced in from what appeared to be the passenger seat of a car, wearing her seatbelt and a gray top.
“I hope you’re not driving,” the judge warned her before the hearing started.
Ponsetto didn’t say much during the proceedings, but agreed to an April 11 in-person hearing, giving her a little more than a month to buy a plane ticket to New York City.
Ponsetto grabbed headlines after she was caught on video accusing Keyon Harrold Jr., 15 — the son of jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold — of stealing her iPhone and then trying to tackle him in the lobby of the Arlo Soho Hotel on Dec. 26, 2020.
It wasn’t her first brush with the law. Ponsetto had a charge of public intoxication dropped against her in Los Angeles over an alleged altercation in Beverly Hills in 2020. She was also charged for fighting with cops during a DUI arrest in an incident also caught on camera.
Ponsetto has been seeking therapy since the incidents, according to her attorney. She had pleaded not guilty to hate crime charges in June.
Ponsetto has also been sued by the Harrold family over the incident. That case is still pending.
The last time she was in the Big Apple for a court date, Ponsetto told The Post that she wished she’d “apologized differently” to the victim.
“I feel like I made a mistake,” she said.
Additional reporting by Hannah Ferrera
