By Shayna Jacobs and Jeff Mays
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Harlem's influential Abyssinian Baptist Church offered Friday to put up $50,000 in church funds to bail out former honors student Afrika Owes after she was charged with ferrying guns for a drug gang.
The judge overseeing Owes' case, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Edward McLaughlin, said it was the first time he'd seen a church put up its own money as collateral in a criminal case and expressed concern about the church using "money off a collection plate" to fund her release.
McLaughlin said that he would not make a decision for the next several weeks on whether to consider the church's bail offer or to lower the bail amount.
Owes, 17, grew up in the church, where her mother remains a member, church officials said. She is accused of running guns for the "2 Mafia Family" and "Goons on Deck" gangs which allegedly ran a drug and arms ring out of 137th Street between Lenox and Seventh Avenues. Prosecutors and neighbors said the crews had been active in the area for years.
Several Abyssinian Baptist Church members said Friday they supported the organization's decision to provide bail money for Owes.
"She made a mistake and was badly influenced by some older children," said Rev. Dino Woodard, 76, a member since Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was pastor at the church.
Woodard's wife Suzan directed Owes in the junior choir.
"I remember her being bright and well-behaved and having a good voice. Afrika was noticeable, not because of her looks but because she put the effort in," said Suzan Woodard.
"Our kids are also sometimes drawn to the street and that which looks easy. There is a war going on to catch our kids' minds and spirits," she said.
Rev. Woodard said Owes must submit to the proper guidance if she comes out of this situation unscathed. "She has to be guided properly by her family and the church, not her associates," he said.
Another long-time parishioner, Ms. Harrison, said the congregation supports Rev. Calvin Butts and his efforts.
"This is nothing more than a young lady who made a mistake and deserves a second chance," she said. "It's great that we are stepping up. We should do whatever it takes."
Owe's attorney, Elsie Chandler, had the same message in court.
"This is a young woman that the court ought to take a chance on," Chandler told the judge. "The court must take a risk on this young woman who has no prior record and undisputed family ties."
Chandler said the church's lawyers have already considered and approved the offer to bail Owes out. She asked the court to hear from Abyssinian Church minister Rev. E. Marshall Turman about the offer, but the judge declined to let her speak.
Turman did not speak to reporters. Calls to the church were not immediately returned.
Chandler was joined by supporters from the church, but not its high-profile pastor, Rev. Butts, who has spoken out repeatedly on Owes' behalf.
Supporters including Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel turned up at the courtroom Friday to press the judge to reduce Owes' $50,000 bail bond or $25,000 cash bail to a more manageable amount. Owes has been incarcerated at the Rose M. Singer Center at Rikers Island since her Feb. 15 arrest.
Rangel, who sat in the front row of the audience normally reserved for police and attorneys, interrupted the proceeding several times, standing up and trying to catch the judge's attention.
"Somebody's standing who probably shouldn't be standing unless he's got a back problem like I do," Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Edward McLaughlin eventually chastised Rangel.
"Ok, judge," Rangel replied, taking his seat.
McLaughlin said Friday that he was not prepared to release Owes on her own recognizance, adding that she was arrested on serious charges.
The judge read aloud from excerpts of a taped conversation between Owes and her incarcerated boyfriend, Jaquan Layne, from Dec. 9, 2009, in which he can be overheard telling her, "If shit gets crazy, let it go, let it go; make sure, head shots only," according to Owes' criminal indictment.
Owes allegedly replied that she regularly carried his 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and complained it "was heavy."
McLaughlin said of the conversation, "There's nothing vague about that. That is a direction from a colleague as to what to do and how to do it if the circumstances arise."
Owes' supporters believe she got caught up with the wrong crowd and lost her way when she returned home from the prestigious Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.
"She's got the church behind her. She's got the community behind her. People are behind her for a reason," said one family friend as he was waiting for the bail hearing.
"She made some bad choices — there's no question. But she's a minor she deserves a second chance," said the friend, who has known Owes since she was a toddler.
