Here's another sad chapter in the story of the family of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz: Their youngest daughter, Malikah Shabazz, was released from jail Thursday after pleading guilty to stealing the identity of the 70-year-old widow of one of her father's bodyguards. She ran up $55,000 on credit cards taken out in the widow's name. Fortunately for her, she has the opportunity to stay out of jail for good.
Malikah Shabazz will be sentenced to five years probation next month as long as she pays back the $55,000 owed to various credit card companies, Queens prosecutors said. If not, she could be locked away for seven years.
"The defendant, who preyed upon the trusting nature of a once-close family friend, has admitted her guilt in committing a serious felony offense and will be ordered to make her victims financially whole," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Shabazz, 46, remains held in lieu of a $100,000 bond while she awaits a July 28 sentencing. She pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree identity theft during a hearing before Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho.
SOURCE: New York Daily News.
The victim, Khaula Bakr, is the widow of a bodyguard who was with Malcolm X when the activist was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in 1965.
Shabazz is also in the midst of legal wrangling with her five sisters over their parents' $1.4 million estate, according to the Daily News.
Read more about this story at News One.
In other news: Patrice Gaines on Prison and Second Chances.
Sheryl Huggins Salomon is senior editor-at-large of The Root and a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based editorial consultant. Follow her on Twitter.