Ann Pettway May Plead Guilty in Harlem Hospital Kidnapping Case

Ann Pettway is charged with kidnapping a baby from Harlem Hospital in 1987

AP Photo/Wake County Bureau of Identification

MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — A woman charged with stealing a sick infant from Harlem Hospital more than two decades ago and then raising the baby as her own may plead guilty in her federal kidnapping case, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said talks with accused kidnapper Ann Pettway's attorney have been "productive" and that they have discussed the possibility of her taking a plea during her Thursday court appearance at Manhattan's U.S. District Court.

If plea negotiations fail, a trial date has been set for April 2.

Pettway, 50, is charged with posing as a nurse and taking 19-day-old Carlina White from Harlem Hospital on Aug. 4, 1987. She then allegedly renamed the baby Nejdra Nance and raised her as her own in Bridgeport, Conn.

White, now 24, began to question her identity when she became pregnant with her own first child and needed possession of her birth certificate and other documents.

She was reunited with her birth parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson, about a year ago.

Pettway's attorney, Robert Baum, told DNAinfo she would not be willing to plead to the top charge, which carries a mandatory 20 years in prison.

"Right now there's a charge of kidnapping...she's not going to plead guilty to that," said Baum who would not disclose the details of the plea talks.

"If that doesn't change shes going to trial April 2."

In the past he has described Pettway as "a very good mother" to White.

According to court papers, Pettway said said she is aware that she "has caused a lot of pain," and lamented that she "had had several miscarriages" and "did not believe she would ever be able to be a parent."

Carlina White, now 24, was reunited with her birth mother after being kidnapped at just 19 days old

Joy White