NYU 'pot princess' dodges a jail term

New York Daily News

New York University's "pot princess" escaped with no jail yesterday after completing an 18-month rehab program and passing drug tests.

Julia Diaco, 20, of Rumson, N.J., made headlines when she was busted in April 2004 on charges of running a drug market featuring cocaine, marijuana, LSD, psychedelic mushrooms and other hallucinogens out of her freshman dorm at NYU.

Because she had completed her rehab program, Diaco was allowed yesterday to withdraw her guilty pleas to charges that could have put her behind bars for up to 25 years.

She was allowed to plea to lesser charges, and got off with five years' probation.

The petite co-ed was dubbed the "pot princess" because she grew up well-to-do in a big, fancy house in New Jersey.

But yesterday, her lawyer, Paul Schechtman, said Diaco "is a very different person than she was 18 months ago."

Diaco, who showed up in court in knee-high black leather stiletto boots and a conservative black suit, let her lawyer do all the talking. She could be seen comforting her mother who was flushed with emotion.

Diaco now attends a community college in New Jersey.

By Barbara Ross