A U.S. congressman is lending support to a teen girl accused of funneling guns to a New York City drug gang.
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel joined other members of his influential Harlem church Friday at a court hearing for 17-year-old Afrika Owes.
The teen was once a top student on a full scholarship at a prestigious Massachusetts prep school, but prosecutors say she fell under the influence of a boyfriend who led a violent street gang in her Harlem neighborhood.
She is charged with acting as a gun courier for the boyfriend while he was incarcerated.
Rangel and other members of the Abyssinian Baptist Church tried unsuccessfully to use $50,000 in church money to post bail for Owes.
The congressman told reporters after the hearing that even "the smartest kids in the world make poor judgments.''
