A Viet graduating senior at a prestigious public prep school in Metairie, Louisiana is facing criminal charges for lacing 22 cupcakes with a laxative, and leaving them in the teachers’ lounge, reports the Times-Picayune here.
Jeannie Nguyen, 17, an honor student, was suspended for the rest of her senior year at Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, effectively being expelled. Also expelled was her honor student and partner in crime, Kamrin Kennedy, 17, of nearby Marrero.
The two were not just expelled — they were also arrested and charged with mingling harmful substances, a crime punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000.
No teachers were harmed in the making of the prank, however. Other students warned one teacher, who then relayed the information to the principal.
Nguyen and Kennedy admitted buying cupcake mix and adding MiraLAX, an over-the-counter laxative and stool softener. The laxative was also added to the icing.
Both are challenging the expulsion and criminal prosecution as over-reaching. Says Marietta Kennedy, Kamrin’s mom, “We’re not justifying what these kids did. But the thing is, we just think the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”
According to Mrs. Kennedy, although only these two students were arrested and expelled, several other students were aware of the “senior prank” and, in fact, helped devise it. Mrs. Kennedy said her son was arrested because he had the vehicle used to go buy the mix and laxatives, while Nguyen provided the oven in which the cupcakes were baked.
Marietta Kennedy said the prank was a silly idea, but called the punishment over-the-top. She said her son and Nguyen were taken to the Gretna jail the Friday before Hurricane Gustav’s arrival, the same day officials were evacuating inmates to state prisons. The teenagers were told that if they didn’t make bond in time, they would be taken to the state penitentiary at Angola. Both were terrified, she said. Her son is still traumatized, she said.
“This kid doesn’t eat, sleep, anything. His whole thing is he just wants to get his life back, ” Marietta Kennedy said.
Marietta Kennedy believes the school and the Sheriff’s Office reacted too harshly to a pair of honor students with no criminal or disciplinary problems.
“We just think that it needs to be reassessed, ” she said.
that is awesome. I’ll bail them out.