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."