Woman Pleads Guilty to 1987 Kidnapping of NYC Baby
Ann Pettway originally pleaded not guilty to charges she kidnapped baby Carlina White from her hospital crib.
Friday, Feb 10, 2012 | Updated 2:22 PM EDT
AP
Ann Pettway
A woman who snatched a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 then raised the child as her own daughter in Bridgeport has pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
Ann Pettway of Raleigh, North Carolina, entered the guilty plea Friday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan.
As part of her plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to recommend between 10 and 12 ½ years in prison for the 51-year-old.
Pettway grabbed little Carlina White from Harlem Hospital while masquerading as a worker. She then raised Carlina in Bridgeport, Connecticut, posing as her mother for 23 years.
The birth mother, Joy White, wept during Friday's court session. She said she's outraged over the plea bargain and thinks Pettway should spend at least two decades behind bars.
Carlina White discovered her past in 2010 with the help of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the NYPD. She was reunited with her Bronx family last year.
The judge set a May sentencing date.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut
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