MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state trooper pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he shot himself then falsely claimed he was wounded by an unknown gunman on a Long Island highway, prompting a regionwide search.
Thomas Mascia agreed to serve six months in jail, followed by five years probation and continued mental health treatment as he formally changed his not guilty plea during a court appearance in Nassau County court in Mineola.
He also agreed, as part of his plea deal, to pay $289,000 in restitution for the overtime costs for officers during the three-day search for a nonexistent suspect.
The 27-year-old West Hempstead resident had been charged with official misconduct, tampering with evidence and falsifying documents. He became a trooper in 2019 and resigned in January after being suspended without pay while state police launched a criminal investigation into the shooting.
Mascia’s parents, Dorothy and Thomas, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing an illegal firearm, which was found during a search of the family's home.
Mascia claimed he was shot in the leg on Oct. 30 by a driver parked on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway, about a mile from his home.
Instead, prosecutors say, he staged the scene of the alleged shooting by scattering shell casings, then shot himself at a park, stashed the .22-caliber rifle, drove back to the highway and called for backup.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said after Wednesday’s hearing that “one of the most disturbing parts” of the case was that he intentionally set in motion a potentially dangerous search.
Mascia described the fictitious driver as a “dark-skinned” man wearing a balaclava that exposed only his eyes. He also claimed the suspect fled in a car bearing temporary New Jersey plates heading toward New York City.
“If someone had been stopped that fit the description? Who knows what would have happened?" the district attorney said. "It’s just a frightening thought."
Donnelly said the ruse was an apparent bid to gain sympathy from a former girlfriend and that state police are also looking into an accident Mascia was involved in while serving as a trooper upstate.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, prosecutors asked the former trooper a series of questions confirming the sequence of events.
“You knew this was a lie and chose to do it anyway?” Jared Rosenblatt of the district attorney’s office asked at the end of the questions.
“Yes,” Mascia replied in a low voice.
The former trooper and his parents didn't respond to reporters as they left the courthouse with their lawyers. They're scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 20.
The family had appeared in court earlier this month to change their pleas, but the judge at the time halted the proceedings after Mascia said he did not feel well mentally.
Jeffrey Lichtman, Mascia’s lawyer, said after the hearing that his client was suffering from an undiagnosed mental health problem at the time of the shooting and is now being treated.
“While this is a dark day for him, he is happy to put this in the past and move forward with his life," he said. "He apologizes to anyone affected by his lapse in judgment and hopes his community will forgive him.”
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP