West Hempstead resident and former state trooper Thomas Mascia was sentenced on Oct. 22 to six months, four in jail and two from home, serve five years of probation, fulfill court ordered mental health treatment, and must pay restitution of $289,511.32.
Mascia, 28, was arrested in January after setting off a regional manhunt following his claims he was shot in the leg while on patrol near Exit 17 of the Southern State Parkway last October.
In May, he accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to charges of tampering with physical evidence, falsely reporting an incident and official misconduct. There is also a full order of protection that was issued against Mascia from an unnamed ex-girlfriend. Mascia waived his right to appeal the charges.
Originally he was scheduled to surrender for sentencing on Aug. 20, but the date was pushed three times to Oct. 22 due to mental health concerns after he was hospitalized for attempting suicide, which was reported by the Times Union on Aug. 6.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said the reason for the delay in sentencing was to allow Mascia to receive mental health treatment, though he would receive mental health treatment in jail as well.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly called Mascia’s actions “one of the most disgraceful breaches of public trust” that she had seen in her over 30 years in law enforcement.
“Former New York State Trooper Thomas Mascia has finally been held accountable for the reprehensible charade he began a year ago,” Donnelly said at a news conference after the sentencing. “He wanted sympathy. He wanted attention and he didn’t care what it cost to get it. Now he’ll have the attention of the four walls of his jail cell for the next six months.”
During his sentencing hearing, Mascia confirmed that while on patrol on Oct. 30 2024, at 11:42 p.m., he falsely planted physical evidence of bullet casings near Exit 17 of the Southern State Parkway. He then knowingly reported a false crime over his radio, claiming shots had been fired.
Mascia agreed that there was no black four-door Dodge Charger with a temporary New Jersey license plate pulled over at the center median and no one else shot at him, which he had originally claimed.
He brought nine bullet casings belonging to his personal .22 caliber rifle from his home to place at the scene. He confirmed that he intentionally shot himself in the leg at Hempstead Lake State Park after researching where in the leg to shoot himself. Mascia then returned to his home in West Hempstead to place his gun in his personal vehicle, before returning to the manufactured scene and calling in shots fired.
“He drove to the park and shot himself,” Nassau County Bureau Chief Jared Rosenblatt said during the sentencing. “This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision” Rosenblatt emphasized Mascia’s continued lies regarding this case, from saying on the record that he was shot four to six times by a dark-skinned or Hispanic man wearing a mask to later claiming he made no such remark.
At the sentencing hearing, Mascia agreed that he planned this act before it occurred. He knew he was lying and continued with his falsehoods.
After identifying several inconsistencies in Mascia’s story, and a lack of body camera footage, a state investigation concluded in January that he had violated official policy and falsely reported the incident in which he was shot in the leg.
Mascia then resigned from the New York State Police force and turned himself in to the police.
Donnelly said that during the investigation there was evidence found on Mascia’s phone showing he had meticulously planned this event.
“His text messages and online activity in the days leading up to the shooting paint a picture of an attention seeker,” Donnelly said. She said a month before Mascia’s shooting he was visiting a website to buy guns online and three days before the incident he visited Kenneth Hite’s 2023 (online) article in The Spectator “Trigger warning: how it feels to get shot.”
She explained how Mascia visited the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission website pages to see temporary vehicle tags and registrations, “because he was going to call in a report that he had been shot and that the car the driver had got away in had temporary New Jersey tags on it.”
Donnelly showed text message conversations Mascia had with friends just hours before he shot himself in which Mascia writes, “Why doesn’t the southern state have cameras of LPRs like thruway does?????” referring to license plate readers and the New York State Thruway, “I have plans made,” and “I’m too stubborn to die you know this.”
The day after he shot himself, his search history showed he had looked up articles about his shooting. Two days later he researched details about the Dodge Charger, the car he claimed his shooter was in because, “he wanted to be prepared because he knew he was going to undergo further questioning,” Donnelly said.
“In Mascia’s presentencing report he tried to paint himself as someone with a momentary lapse of judgment, that his actions were not premeditated,” she added. “Believe me this was premeditated and planned. This was a man who knew what he wanted to do and methodically planned it out.”
“I find he is confident and capable of marking these decisions,” Acting Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Bogle said, referring to Mascia’s ability to accept a plea deal and commenting on the intentional planning in this crime. Bogle continued to read the mission and values statement of the New York State Police to Mascia, telling him “you failed to meet those standards.”
Bogle called Mascia’s actions “personal and selfish,” as the public and fellow officers were effected by this event. “Everyone started out rooting for you,” he said. “I hope during your incarceration you’ll reflect on your misdeeds.”
“The reason we’re here is due to mental health issues,” Lichtman said. Of Mascia’s feelings on going to jail, Lichtman added, “he’s disappointed. He let his family down, he let his community down, he let his coworkers down, so he’s upset.”
“He’ll persevere, he’ll get through this and he’ll get the mental health treatment that he needs,” Lichtman said.
Mascia’s parents, Thomas and Dorothy, faced charges for criminal possession of a firearm, which was discovered at the foot of their bed during a state investigation into the property they share with the younger Mascia, to recover his personal weapons, along with any other guns.
Mascia Sr. is a former NYPD officer who pleaded guilty on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1993. As a convicted felon, Mascia Sr. is not allowed to possess a firearm.
In May, Mascia Sr. pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a firearm. By accepting the plea, he will spend five years on probation and waive his right to appeal the decision. Dorothy accepted a plea agreement for criminal possession of a weapon and faces one year of conditional discharge.
After sentencing, Mascia Sr. reported to the Nassau County Department of Probation to begin serving his sentence. Mascia Sr. and Dorothy both must pay court fees of $375 and $250 respectively, which are due by Dec. 15.
