A judge postponed the guilty plea of a former state trooper from Malverne who claimed he was shot in the line of duty.
It was an unusual chain of events that happened in the courtroom on Wednesday.
When a plea deal was offered, the judge asked Thomas Mascia, the former state trooper, “Are you in good mental health?” and his answer was “no.”
Mascia quickly changed his answer to "yes" after speaking with his lawyer, but the judge ruled to push this plea to another date.
That was not the only issue that arose. When signing paperwork prior to this question, he signed it as “trooper Mascia,” but the 27-year-old is no longer a trooper.
The plea deal offered to him was six months in jail, five years’ probation. He will be required to complete mental health treatment and to pay $289,511 in restitution.
Former State Trooper Mascia is accused of shooting himself in the leg and falsely reporting that someone else did it.
If he pleads guilty it will be for tampering with physical evidence, falsely reporting an incident and official misconduct.
He is due back in court on May 21.
