Community Service Likely for ''Heidi Glum'' Defendants
Prosecutors reach deferred-sentence agreement with one of two defendants in June attack on D.C. drag performer
One of the defendants seen in an online video apparently attacking a local drag performer in a June 23 incident at a restaurant at 14th and T Streets NW has been offered a deferred-sentencing agreement in exchange for community service, according to records from D.C. Superior Court.
Rachel Manna Sahle, 22, of Gaithersburg, Md., appeared in D.C. Superior Court Friday and accepted the deferred-sentencing agreement on a charge of simple assault. Under such an agreement, a defendant agrees to meet certain requirements or obligations in order to avoid serving jail time and to potentially have the charges dropped.
According to D.C. Superior Court records, Sahle will be required to perform community service, submit to regular drug testing, and avoid the victim, Miles DeNiro, who performs as drag personality Heidi Glüm.
Raymone Harding and Rachel Manna Sahle
(Images via YouTube video source)
Sahle has been scheduled for a deferred-sentencing review in six months, at which point Judge Juliet McKenna will determine if she has been compliant with the terms of her release. Typically, if a defendant has been compliant, a judge may decide to throw out the sentence and dismiss the charge altogether.
The second defendant, Raymone Harding, 28, also of Gaithersburg, has been ordered to return to court Sept. 27. McKenna continued the status hearing to that date to allow prosecutors to determine if Harding is eligible for a similar agreement, which is usually granted to only first-time offenders or those accused of minor crimes. If eligible, Harding’s deferred-sentencing agreement would likely mirror Sahle’s.
Friday’s deferred-sentencing agreement for Sahle comes weeks after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia advised McKenna that it was considering whether to pursue bias enhancements – known colloquially as ”hate-crime charges” – to the charge of simple assault against both defendants.
In the video of the attack, which was posted to the site WorldStarHipHop.com, Sahle and Harding are seen hitting and dragging DeNiro by his hair while several bystanders watch at a Manny & Olga’s restaurant near the intersection of 14th and T Streets NW. The footage also shows DeNiro bleeding from his head and trying to staunch the wound with napkins as he and the two women shout at each other.
DeNiro later told Metro Weekly that the women were being encouraged to beat him up by several men who were telling them he was a man. He said that the women continued to loiter outside the restaurant and yelled anti-gay slurs like ”faggot” and ”tranny” at him when he exited with his order.
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