Malcolm X's Daughter Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft

Malikah Shabazz was arrested in North Carolina on NY warrants

The daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X has pleaded guilty to stealing the personal information of an elderly woman in order to open credit cards and rack up $55,000 in purchases, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.

Malikah Shabazz, 45, was freed from jail Thursday after entering the plea at a courthouse in Queens. She had been behind bars since her arrest in North Carolina on March 2.

Shabazz admitted that she obtained the credit cards by stealing the identity of the 70-year-old widow of one of her father's former bodyguards.  Shabazz will have to make restitution payments of more than $55,000, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
     
Her lawyer, Russell Rothberg, said Shabazz is excited to be reunited with her teenage daughter.

Shabazz was born just a few months after her father Malcolm X was assassinated.  She will be back in court on July 28 for sentencing and the judge indicated she would get five years of probation in addition to paying restitution.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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