34 year old Elia Lanza, a resident of Belama pleaded guilty today to assaulting freelance journalist Anita Nembhard - and is lucky to have escaped a prison sentence of 5-7 years.
Lanza was arraigned in January for aggravated assault.
She appeared unrepresented in court today before Magistrate Deborah Rogers, and asked for a sentencing indication as she was considering entering a guilty plea. Since this is not her first conviction for the offense she was told that she could be fined or face a year in prison. As a result Lanza pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated assault and was fined a total of $1,333.00 plus a $5.00 cost of court fine which she must pay by April 27th 2026. Lanza apologized to Nembhard and showed remorse.
We note that this is the second person to assault Nembhard outside the court while she is reporting and gathering information.
