61 CommentsThis morning, Harrison David pleaded guilty to a felony charge in New York City Supreme Court. He will be sentenced on August 31st to 6 months of jail time (reduced to 4 for good behavior) at Rikers Island and 5 years of probation. Since he already served 2 weeks in Rikers Island before being released on bail, he only has 3.5 months of jail time left. His lawyer, Matthew Myers, told Bwog after the hearing that he expects David will be officially expelled from Columbia later today, now that he has been convicted of a felony.
David is currently living in Florida with a relative Myers describes as a “strict disciplinarian.” “New York is not a good environment for [David] anymore,” Myers said. He hopes his client can get a “fresh start” in Florida, where David will serve his 5 years of probation. Myers seemed reasonably happy with the plea deal. The prosecution had asked for a year upstate, but Myers convinced them to go with only four months at Rikers. When Bwog asked whether there was any way David could have avoided pleading guilty to a felony, Myers laughed and said he obviously could have gone to trial, but Special Narcotics would probably win. The fact one of the undercover officers involved in two of the sales to David was arrested for running an illegal gambling ring, Myers explained, probably made the district attorney more generous with the plea, but didn’t guarantee that David could win a trial.
It is unclear exactly what David will do now. Myers, perhaps unsurprisingly, praised his client, describing him as a “respectful, brilliant kid” with a “bright future ahead of him” who has “huge regrets he blew an Ivy League education,” but has still “handled the situation in a very mature fashion.” It is unclear when or where he’ll be able to go back to college, however. “Even state schools,” Myers lamented, are reluctant to accept students with criminal records. He went on to explain that he planned to apply in a few years for a “certificate of relief” signed by a judge that would give David back some legal rights (like voting and serving on jury duty) and hopefully make him more attractive to potential employers.
Meanwhile, the other four defendants continue to plead not guilty. Their lawyers will stick to the same argument from last month’s hearing: their clients are good kids who were addicted to drugs, and should be “diverted to treatment” rather than convicted of felonies and put on probation. Thanks to the repeal of New York’s extremely harsh “Rockefeller Drug Laws” two years ago, defendants charged with drug dealing who can show that they only dealt to fund their own addiction (as opposed to making money) are eligible for a diversion to treatment.
Update, 3:49 PM: The University has no comment on whether Harrison David will be, as his lawyer predicted, expelled today. We’ll keep you posted.
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61 Comments
@Columbia will always try to cover its own ass to make itself look good because of its shallow bond it shares with us the students, so I am not surprised by that. I am surprised however by the hypocritical individuals who seek to condemn these guys for something that everyone knows goes on and either has participated in or turned a blind eye to. I think its a shameful reflection of how Columbia itself is but a satirical mimic of society in its processes. Stigmatize the condemned because it will make you sleep that much better at night, and will ultimately solve the real underlying issues behind these guys actions. I wish Harrison well and much strength and luck in his future as well as the four.
@as for this author of this post, congratulations. fucking awesome writing
@What kind of person put their actual name on posts… what are they thinking? No, I honestly want to know guys…
@AUNT JEMIMA \Meanwhile, the other four defendants continue to plead not guilty. Their lawyers will stick to the same argument from last month’s hearing: their clients are good kids who were addicted to drugs, and should be “diverted to treatment” rather than convicted of felonies and put on probation.\
-gimme a fucking break lol i’m sure they have a shot of nabbing that, but really? ..
@Van Owen Sucks to be him.
@Anonymous It’s that time of the month, and I’m feeling not so fresh if you know what I mean.
@Menstrual Fairy I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m quite sure no one else in the world does either or has had that problem, ever.
@LOLOLOLOL His attorney’s website is lulzy.
@Anonymous Harrison’s a sweet man. Regardless of whatever is said on here. I bet most of the people speaking are incoming freshman or about to be sophomores. If so, shut the fuck up. Sound good?
@No. It doesn’t sound good.
@Anonymous You consider someone who deals addictive drugs that can potentially kill you a “sweet man” ? What is “sweet” about endangering the lives of Columbia students by doing hardcore drug deals on campus? What is “sweet” about nationally tainting our university’s name? What is “sweet” about getting your own fraternity house taken away because of your insatiable greed?
“A sweet man?” I don’t need to know him, and I don’t want to know him.
@Swallow Well aren’t you the frigid, little bitch…
@What a conceited little bitch! Columbia is full of fucking cocky assholes like this one.
@Anonymous Hahahaha what a loser. I wonder if the other guys who are pleading not guilty will get reamed even harder by the verdict later if they lose.
@i'm trying to care about this
@Anonymous I’m not
@sigh “a waste”. “a brilliant life destroyed.” “harmless ivy league students on the path to helping society.”
…give me a fucking break. how the fuck is this a waste? stop assuming that ivy league kids have a god-given right to a job, or that we’re somehow inherently valuable to society. no, we’re fucking not. if this case tells us anything, it’s that there are plenty of talented assholes who use their “brilliance” for nothing more than their own greed.
this isn’t a waste at all. maybe locking him up will teach him a small lesson.
and to all you freaking out about his future: honestly, he’ll probably be FINE. it’s called privilege.
@Anonymous and you’re just ignorant of grammar…
@anonymous Yes, he knew what he was doing was illegal, but he hadn’t gone near cocaine until the undercover cop asked him to get the drug. How does it serve justice to have the NYPD spending taxpayer money to entice these kids into committing more serious felonies? A waste and a damn shame! How many of the posters condemning these students have used the drugs they sold? Columbia should stand up and let these young men finish their degrees. They will be punished by the legal system. That should be enough.
@wait a minute so if an undercover told him to murder someone then he should get off of murder too right?
Again your an ignorant liberal with no logic skills
@cc11 Are you telling me you support a system that encourages people to commit murder (or any crime) in order to catch them committing said crime. Just pause, for one moment, to consider your own twisted logic.
@I just hope he doesn’t get arse-fucked
@awkward bro Lol@ “Even state schools are reluctant to accept students with criminal records”
This lawyer is my Columbia brah
@columbia alumn Start a petition to the university to not expel him. If they do, a movement to reinstate him in the Fall should get serious support.
@lol THIS AINT 1996. If the students believed in anything other than good grades and intships, maybe. [7]
@And it's not the 1960s either where we blame and fight the man for absolutely anything just to add a random fleeting sense of purpose to our lives.
The guy did the crime; of course he gets expelled. They all will.
I feel bad for the kid, but c’mon. This is as stupid as the hippies singing beat poetry about Abu Ghraib at the ROTC meetings. Stfu, hippie.
@That was really horrible. That beat poetry was like a parody of itself.
@stfu haters As far as I know, he wasn’t adulterating his goods or selling to kids, so is it really worth branding him for life?
Don’t expel him, Columbia. If you’re worried about the moral integrity of this institution, first on the list should be the B-School. But it’s not a university’s job to make moral judgments. It’s a university’s job to educate, so let this kid have his damn education.
It sounds like he’ll end up in Florida regardless, so I hope he finds happiness off the track he’d set for himself (or others had set for him, I suppose).
Also, I hope no one gets raped ever.
@Harrisson David Yea Bro! Columbia don’t be going on and expelling me….broooo. comon bro don’t expel me bro.
@Mike Wymbs Yeaaaa columbia, don’t expel him please, comon bro, don’t expel him, he’s our brooooooo.
@Chris Coles YEAAAAAA, guys! comon bro. yeaaaaaaa brooooo.
@Mike Wymbs Hold on bro, we’re gonna win this!
@Stephan Vincenzo Yea bro, right on man. you’ll be out in no time bro.
@Adam Klein yea you guys, bro, hold on bro, we’re all here for you on bwog bro, we got this, i got this, we got this you know what it isssssssssss.
@Faith in humanity -1 Thought this was epic, then I tracked it.
@Mike Wymbs Don’t track us bro, don’t traaack us!
@Stephan Vincenzo Yea bro, that’s not nice, don’t track us bro, it’s not cool, not cool
@time to start a startup company! no ones gonna hire :(
@Anonymous ya well no one’s hiring anyway
@Anonymous what was the point of all this? just another brilliant life destroyed…
@Anonymous well that’s his fault for selling drugs
@Anonymous was it his fault for selling drugs, or was he the victim of prejudicial and backward drug laws which take harmless ivy league students on the path to helping society and turning them into disenfranchized quasi-citizens for life over mistakes them made in their late teens?
@Anonymous my recaptcha featured the pi symbol. can bwog do an exposé on that? it’s much more interesting. i had to refresh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Anonymous Yes it was his fault for selling drugs. He was a college student caught fencing some coke. You cannot with a straight face sit there and label his actions as a mistake. Was Harrison David selling drugs knowing full well that such activity was illegal? Yes. Does that sound like a mistake to you? A mistake would be if he was trying to sell sugar and accidentally grabbed cocaine instead. He himself stated that he sold drugs to pay for tuition. This sounds full well like an admission to a crime and indicating full knowledge of his actions.
Is this now a life wasted? Absolutely, but that’s on him and the blame doesn’t fall to anyone else. Maybe now his story and the consequences he faces will discourage anyone else from following in his footsteps.
@grumpy conservative #2 Agreed, BUT us taxpayers are paying $200+ a day for him to sit in Rikers? That’s pretty damn hard to justify.
@Anonymous …price we pay for an (slightly more) orderly society
@Anonymous “prejudicial and backward drug laws which take harmless ivy league students on the path to helping society and turning them into disenfranchized quasi-citizens for life over mistakes them made in their late teens”
This is a horrible way of phrasing an anti-drug law argument. Their prejudice is focused against low income, generally minority teenagers and young adults, not “harmless ivy league students.” The kid had vastly more economic and educational opportunities than the vast majority of other people arrested for these laws. Not only did he ruin his own life, but he potentially ruined the lives of the other 4, by opening them up to the undercover operation. If it wasn’t for his stupidity, no one would be in this situation.
@Anonymous the building he will be in is going to be for sentenced inmates with sentences under one year. i.e- other drug dealers and probation violators. hel be fine. now if he hadd taken the year upstate, dfferent story..
@Sigh..... What a waste.
@Anonymous Legalize it and coke legalize that as well
@I didn't know Harrison could act... CUZ HE’LL BE PLAYING Frightened Inmate #3!
@Guard NO TOUCHING!
@Anonymous all they do in prison is eat ice cream sandwiches
doing the time… of their lives
@t-bone His cell mate will probably be a flamer.
@I think it’s Mike Wymbs who can act. I remember seeing him in a couple plays. And yeah, I’m biased because I know some of these guys, but try to have some fucking empathy. Yeah, they broke the law by selling drugs and got caught up in a much bigger investigation. But they’re not that different than us.
If you’re smoking weed or even drinking when you’re 20, you’re also breaking the law. The NYPD could raid your dorm, arrest you, and charge you with a felony. You might not get jail time, but good luck getting into a good school or getting a good job once you’re an ex-con. Yeah, there’s a very slim chance of that happening, but there was a slim chance for these guys too.
Obviously, what Harrison David, Mike Wymbs, and the others did can’t be justified in court. But it’s pretty sad for college students who routinely break the law and bend the rules (or at least know people who do) to be acting all sanctimonious and condemning these guys. Have some fucking empathy for your fellow classmates. Some of them may have been douchey and some of them had bad addictions, but they still worked hard and were part of Columbia. They were just like us until they had the bad luck to be yanked out of Columbia and thrown into the harsh world outside the Gates. They weren’t outsiders and criminals who happened to blend in; they were Columbia students.
Of course, the rest of the world is going to caricaturize them and splash them on the front of the tabloids. And of course it’s natural that a major event like the arrests last year would become a big topic of conversation. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that these guys were Columbians six months ago, and now they’ve spent time in Rikers, will be lucky to get into a community college, and will have their whole lives turned upside down.
From the point of view of the legal system, that’s fair. After all, poor black kids in Harlem and the Bronx get royally screwed by the legal system for minor drug crimes all the time, so it’s only fair that Columbia students do as well. But you can acknowledge it’s fair and still think it’s terrible that it happened and it must suck to be those guys. Imagine if it happened to you and try to have some empathy for your former classmates.
@lol lt;dr
@Anonymous Don’t drop the soap Harrison!
@HAHAHA Prison rape is hilarious!!
@You have been sentenced to no less than 4 months in a federal, pound you in the ass, prison
@inb4 shitstorm
@... First!