A 30-year-old Newark woman - who previously pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery - had her request to withdraw her plea denied today.
Back in May, Quiama S. Harris, admitted that she drove the car for Avery Spotswood, 44, of Newark and took some of the proceeds (approximately totaling $8,324) from the robberies at the Investors Savings Bank in Springfield and at the Santander Bank in Parsippany.
According to Harris' attorney his client entered a guilty plea after the pressure she experienced from two public defenders who allegedly told her accepting the state's offer was her best course of action.
However, according Judge Thomas Critchley, Harris was well aware that her co-defendant had given tellers notes saying he had a bomb.
Judge Critchley added, it appears the defendant is sorry to have found herself in this situation but it's not grounds to allow the guilty plea to be withdrawn.
Harris who faced a maximum of 40 years in state prison on the two first-degree robbery charges, under the plea agreement she would only be sentenced to six years.
Her sentence is scheduled for Feb. 26.