Original Blog Entry: $2 tea = 27-day sentence in jail

truesee — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:12:04 GMT

Credit: Gaston County, NC Detention Center

Latasha Danielle Dellinger

$2 tea = 27-day sentence in jail

April 07, 2011 5:47 PM

Diane Turbyfill

Gaston Gazette

A Gastonia woman was sentenced to 27 days in jail for stealing a $2 glass of tea.

Judge Robert Sumner on Thursday morning sentenced Latasha Danielle Dellinger to the stint in Gaston County Jail, then gave her credit for time served.

Dellinger was locked up for nearly a month after failing to appear in court on charges of misdemeanor larceny and making a false bomb threat.

The incident that led to the charges happened Nov. 6 at the Shrimp Boat at 120 S. Broad St., Gastonia.

Dellinger, 22, and Kia Tineka Sessoms, 29, both of 213 Willow St., went to the local restaurant to eat. The women ordered water, then poured the drinks out and filled up their cups with tea, according to the prosecutor.

The larceny charges were for the stolen tea valued at $2 each.

The women voiced dissatisfaction with the service and before leaving yelled to customers there was a bomb in the building.

The building was searched by police to make sure there was no actual bomb threat, and both women were arrested.

Dellinger accepted a plea agreement that dropped the false bomb threat charge if she pleaded guilty to larceny.

A mother of two young children, Dellinger was jailed in March. She arrived in court this week in jailhouse scrubs with cornrows in her hair.

She has a previous charge of failure to appear in court from July and a charge of failing to pay child support, according to the Gaston County Sheriff s Office website.

Sessoms was released from jail on a $5,000 secured bond in November but was on 36 months probation for a 2009 conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to the N.C. Department of Correction website. Her next court date in Gaston County is April 29.

Kia Sessoms

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