Miya Ponsetto, better known as the “SoHo Karen,” pleaded guilty Monday to a hate crime for attacking a Black teen in 2020 who she wrongly accused of stealing her phone. Ponsetto was looking for her missing phone at the Arlo SoHo Hotel when 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. and his father walked through the lobby. Ponsetto charged the boy and tackled him to the ground, believing he had taken her phone—the hotel later found it elsewhere. She remained defiant in a trainwreck interview with CBS This Morning but was arrested at home in California the following month. After pleading guilty to unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, Ponsetto must remain under probation in California, submit to counseling, and stay out of further trouble. 1010 Wins reports that if she follows those terms, she can later change her plea to a misdemeanor. But if she doesn’t, she faces up to four years in state prison.
The @nypd needs our help identifying the woman who attacked Keyon Harrold Jr. after falsely accusing the innocent teen of stealing her phone. This newly released footage of the attack clearly shows her assaulting Keyon before she fled the hotel prior to police arriving on scene! pic.twitter.com/hVnqrEXyjo
