May 21 (UPI) — An ex-New York state police officer on Wednesday pleaded guilty to shooting himself in the leg as part of a fake crime scene in what prosecutors said was a plan to gain sympathy.
Former trooper Thomas Mascia, 27, admitted in court that he staged the supposed crime scene on October 30 after he claimed to have been injured by an unknown shooter near exit 17 of New York’s Southern State Parkway while checking on a disabled vehicle.
The West Hempstead resident pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence, falsely reporting a police incident and for official misconduct.
He is expected to serve six months in prison, five years of probation and must undergo continued mental health treatment and pay more than $289,500 in restitution.
Mascia admitted that he spread shells at the alleged scene, then drove in his state vehicle to nearby Hempstead Lake State Park, where he then shot himself with the same caliber rifle loaded with the same shells left on the highway. It is there where he returned and called in the staged incident.
“You weren’t shot by someone else?” asked the assistant Nassau County district attorney, to which Mascia replied: “Yes.”
His actions had set off a statewide manhunt for the suspected vehicle Mascia described until investigators discovered the gunshot was self-inflicted.
Mascia attorney Jeffrey Lichtman stated Mascia also lied about getting hit by a car during an alleged 2022 hit-and-run incident upstate, adding that state police officials missed the signs of mental distress which, according to Lichtman, was what led to October’s staged event.
The former state trooper saw a delayed plea deal earlier this month after Mascia inadvertently expressed that he was not in good mental health.
On Wednesday, he said “yes” after the judge inquired if he was in a good mental state.
Additionally, Mascia’s parents were charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
Thomas Mascia Sr., a former NYPD officer until his conviction in the 1990s for his role in a cocaine ring, was charged after a search of the home related to the incident uncovered an illegal assault-style weapon along with about $80,000 in cash.
Meanwhile, Mascia is expected to be sentenced on August 20.