The attorney for Quiama Harris claimed she had been "pressured" by two public defenders to accept the state's offer
The Santander Bank in Parsippany after Avery Spotswood and Quiama Harris robbed it in December 2013. (Megan Shapiro Hodgin | NJ.com) MORRISTOWN -- A Superior Court judge on Tuesday refused to let a 30-year-old Newark woman withdraw her guilty plea to driving the getaway car for a friend during two bank robberies in Springfield and Parsippany.
In May, Quiama S. Harris pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Morristown to two counts of first-degree robbery. She admitted that she drove the car for Avery Spotswood, 44, of Newark and took some of the proceeds from the robberies on Dec. 18, 2013 at the Investors Savings Bank in Springfield and on Dec. 23, 2013 at the Santander Bank in Parsippany.
Authorities have said a total of $8,324 was taken in the two robberies. Harris said her agreed-on share of the proceeds totaled $450 for the two robberies, but Spotswood, who pleaded guilty in November 2014, said the proceeds were split "50-50."
In his argument for the withdrawal of the guilty plea, Harris' new attorney, Michael Kuhns, said she felt "extreme pressure" from two public defenders who told her accepting the state's offer was her best course of action.
Kuhns said Harris had a serious "drug habit," was under the influence of drugs at the time, and agreed to drive the car for Spotswood "just to get a little extra money to support the habit." Harris didn't know what Spotswood was doing inside the bank, Kuhns said.
In refusing to let Harris withdraw her plea, Judge Thomas Critchley pointed out that she had admitted to a "thorough" accounting of the facts of the case as stated in court.
Harris had admitted in court that she "drove her co-defendant to commit a robbery" and was aware that he had given tellers notes saying he had a bomb, Critchley said.
"The defendant is sorry to have found herself in this situation with relatively little gain," Critchley said, citing the small amount she said received from the robberies. "That remorse is a feature for sentencing," and not a reason to allow the guilty plea to be withdrawn, the judge said.
Although Harris faced a maximum of 40 years in state prison on the two first-degree robbery charges, the prosecutor offered a relatively light six-year sentence as part of the plea agreement, Critchley said. He scheduled sentencing for Feb. 26.
Harris had wanted to enter the state's Drug Court program -- a probation-like program that requires no incarceration -- but her attorneys would not discuss that, Kuhns said.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn countered that "there was never an offer" from the state involving Drug Court, because that would not be allowed under the first-degree charges that she admitted.
Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.