A former New York state trooper who faked his own shooting and sparked a massive manhunt for a made-up suspect was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail and five years probation.
Thomas Mascia, 28, had been facing up to four years in prison, but instead took a deal in exchange for pleading guilty to falsely reporting an incident, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct.
He was also ordered to pay $289,511 in restitution as part of his plea deal in May.
Mascia claimed he was shot in the leg by an unknown, masked gunman while attending to a disabled vehicle on Long Island’s Southern State Parkway last October.
A manhunt for a suspect followed before investigators determined Mascia had actually shot himself at a park and staged the scene on the roadway.
Investigators believe Mascia was looking for sympathy and to get the attention from a love interest.
“Mascia shot himself in the leg, scattered shell casings at the scene, to try to grab headlines,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Wednesday. “He wanted sympathy, he wanted attention and he didn’t care what it cost to get it. Now he will have the attention of the four walls of his jail cell for the next three months.”
A search of the West Hempstead home that Mascia shares with his parents turned up several guns, steroids and about $1 million in cash. The former trooper’s parents also accepted plea deals after authorities found an illegal firearm in their bedroom.
Mascia was hospitalized after an alleged suicide attempt in July, according to Newsday.
He also previously claimed to have been injured in a hit-and-run in 2022.
“I hope during your incarceration you will reflect on your misdeeds and abuse of official authority,” Acting State Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Bogle told Masci in court Wednesday.
