JURY GIVES 2 KINGWOOD GIRLS 7 YEARS

"I Don't Believe This Was About Drugs,I Think It Wasabout Greed."

Two of the four Kingwood girls accused in a series of armed robberies
last summer lost their bid for probation Friday and were sentenced to
seven years in prison.

Malissa "Lisa" Warzeka wept quietly and Katie Marie Dunn sobbed loudly
and almost collapsed as state District Judge Mark Kent Ellis read the
jury's verdict and imposed the punishments.

"Spare me your tears. You should have known better ... You have sown
the wind, and you have now reaped the whirlwind," Ellis told the
girls, both 17.

The jury of seven women and five men returned after deliberating for
about 90 minutes Friday. The panel had been sequestered overnight
after deliberating for six hours on Thursday.

Dunn and Warzeka had each pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated
robbery, so jurors had to decide if they were to be placed on
probation or sent to prison for anywhere from five years to life.

The girls, who had no previous felony records, received seven years
for each of the two robbery charges. The terms will run concurrently,
so with credit for time already served in jail, they will be eligible
for parole in three years.

Relatives and other supporters, who filled the courtroom throughout
the trial, were visibly shaken by the sentence.

Dunn's mother and Warzeka's parents were more subdued as they filed
out. All declined comment, as did the jurors.

Chris W. Wright, pastor of Grace Ministries, prayed with supporters of
the Dunn family after the sentencing, although on Thursday he said it
would be an injustice if the girls avoided prison.

Wright said Friday he was sad for the girls and their families, even
though he felt probation would have been unfair, because blacks
routinely go to prison for the same crimes.

Warzeka and Dunn, who are white, were arrested in August, along with
Michelle Morneau, 18, and Krystal Dawn Maddox, 16, who has been
certified to stand trial as an adult.

The four have been linked to five robberies, two in Montgomery County
and three in Harris County, between May 30 and July 10, in which they
disguised themselves so effectively that some thought they were boys.

Dunn has admitted to taking part in four of the robberies, which the
girls pulled to get money for drugs, clothes, body-piercings and other
items.

Warzeka, a member of several sports teams at Kingwood High, admitted
to being the one who held a gun on clerks as she shouted obscene
commands in three of the robberies.

Morneau is alleged to have taken part in three robberies and Maddox in
all five. They are awaiting trial.

Cynthia Woodard, a clerk robbed July 1 by Dunn and Warzeka at a
convenience store on Hamblin Road, told the Chronicle that she was
satisfied with the punishment and happy the two didn't get probation.

"They caused a lot of grief and stress," Woodard said. "You think
you're going to die. But I'm happy with the seven-year sentences."

Ellis told Dunn and Warzeka that their cases were not about the
affluent community where they lived or the fact that they participated
in extracurricular high-school activities. He said the robberies had
nothing to do with drug abuse or youthful rebellion.

It was about the victims, Ellis said, ticking off the names of Woodard
and the others.

"You made a choice, despite all the advantages that you had in your
homes, in your school, in your neighborhood," Ellis told the girls.
"You made a choice and that choice was to be thugs, to go out and take
money at gunpoint and terrorize these people."

Warzeka's attorney, Crespin Linton, said he thought Ellis' comments
were unnecessary considering what the girls have gone through.

But, he added, the two had been prepared for the prospect of prison
before the decision was announced, though they were hoping for probation.

Both Linton and Dunn's attorney, Patrick Hubbard, said the jury did a
good job, considering the sentence could have been much longer.

Linton said he believed the jurors genuinely sympathized with the
girls and had seriously considered probation, since eight members of
the panel are parents with teens.

"We do not want them, and the jury does not want them, to become some
hardened criminals so that when they come back out here again that
they're going to be worse off than they were when they went in,"
Linton said.

Linton said that once they are in prison, he hopes the girls can
continue their education and get help with their drug problems.

But prosecutor Terrance Windham said he never believed the girls had a
drug problem or that drugs contributed to the robberies.

Though they admitted using drugs, both girls testified that they were
never under their influence when they committed the robberies.

The defense brought drug abuse up during the trial to curry sympathy
with jurors, Windham said. Linton disputes that.

"I don't believe this was about drugs," Windham said. "I think it was
about greed."

Windham and prosecutor Catalina Serna had asked jurors to not consider
probation, arguing that any amount of prison time jurors saw fit to
assess was the only proper punishment.

But after Dunn's tearful outburst in court, Windham said he did feel
some sympathy for her.

"As I said during closing arguments, I take no pleasure in standing
before a jury and asking them to send these young ladies to prison.
But it has to be done," Windham said. "We can't forget this. We can't
forget that she wasn't sobbing when she stuck guns in people's faces
and threatened their lives and took their property."