Malcolm X daughter gets probation for identity theft

Malcolm X daughter gets probation for identity theft

By Bernd Debusmann Jr

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The youngest daughter of black civil rights leader Malcolm X was sentenced to five years probation on Thursday for stealing the identity of a longtime family friend and using it to make more than $55,000 in illegal credit card purchases.

Malikah Shabazz, 46, pleaded guilty in June to identity theft in state Supreme Court in Queens. At her sentencing on Thursday she was ordered to pay a total of $55,884 in restitution to the credit card companies.

Shabazz, wearing a black T-shirt and thick glasses similar to those her father often wore, left the courthouse immediately after the proceedings and declined to comment.

Shabazz, a North Carolina resident, was charged in March with opening several credit card accounts in the name of Queens resident Khaula Bakr, the widow of a bodyguard who was with Malcolm X when he was assassinated in Harlem in 1965.

According to authorities, Shabazz told Makr she needed her personal information for paperwork involving a child care matter and then used it to open the accounts.

"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," District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

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