Former New York state trooper sentenced to 6 months in prison after faking his own shooting: 'disgraceful'

A former New York state trooper was sentenced on Wednesday to six months behind bars after he shot himself in the leg and falsely claimed that he was wounded by an unknown gunman Thomas Mascia pleaded guilty in May to falsely reporting an affair tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct Mascia who had been a trooper since resigned in January after he was suspended without pay while state police conducted a criminal analysis into the shooting In addition to prison time Mascia was given five years of probation and ordered to undergo mental wellness medication and pay nearly in restitution in Nassau County court in Mineola Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly criticized Mascia for his disgraceful actions that wasted police materials including a manhunt that lasted several days EX-NY STATE TROOPER SHOT HIMSELF FALSELY CLAIMED HE WAS WOUNDED BY UNKNOWN GUNMAN PROSECUTORS His lies wasted hundreds of hours of law enforcement manpower deeply cost taxpayers in Nassau County and betrayed the society s trust of those in uniform Donnelly reported in a comment after the sentencing Mascia released that he was shot in the leg on Oct by a driver parked on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway on Long Island about a mile from the trooper's home He described the fictitious driver as a dark-skinned man who drove away in a black sedan with temporary New Jersey plates heading toward New York City He had shot himself at Hempstead Lake State Park before stashing the -caliber rifle and driving to the highway to call for help Prosecutors disclosed Mascia also planted shell casings at the scene where he shot himself FLORIDA TEEN ACCUSED OF FAKING ABDUCTION SHOOTING HIMSELF AND SPARKING AMBER ALERTThere was no video footage of the episode because Mascia's body camera was not activated at the time Mascia is mortified by his actions and happy to eventually get on with his life lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman who represents the former trooper and his parents revealed in a announcement to The Associated Press Prosecutors revealed Mascia shot himself in an apparent attempt to receive attention and sympathy Lichtman previously revealed Mascia was suffering from an undiagnosed mental wellness difficulty at the time of the shooting and that the former trooper has been undergoing healing There are plenty of less severe and less dangerous strategies to garner sympathy that don t include shooting oneself he noted in January And now an entire family is suffering for it as they usually do in such situations Mascia's parents Dorothy and Thomas were also each charged with criminal possession of a firearm after the gun used in the shooting was located in their West Hempstead bedroom during a search of the home The disgraced trooper's father was sentenced to five years of probation on Wednesday while his mother was given a one-year conditional discharge Mascia's father was dismissed from the New York Police Department in after pleading guilty to cocaine distribution charges The Associated Press contributed to this document