By DAVE ALTIMARI, daltimar@courant.comThe Hartford Courant
8:19 p.m. EST, December 16, 2013
HARTFORD — After defiantly telling a federal judge he was not a "bully with a badge" and declaring that he was taught to keep secrets, former East Haven police officer Jason Zullo was sentenced Monday to two years in prison in a case that stemmed from a civil rights probe of the department.
U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Thompson disregarded sentencing guidelines, which called for a sentence of 10 to 16 months, and gave Zullo the maximum sentence allowed under a plea agreement with federal officials.
Before the sentence was levied, Zullo, who pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice for filing a false police report after a vehicular chase of a motorcyclist, told the judge "he was a street cop in a tough town" who saved lives.
In his short speech, Zullo tacitly acknowledged that he filed a false report following the arrest of Robert Salatto, who claimed that Zullo rammed Salatto's motorcycle repeatedly with his police cruiser until both Salatto and his female passenger fell and were injured, because of how he was taught by fellow officers.
"I saw him breaking the law, he evaded me, I chased him and our vehicles collided,'' Zullo said. "Police officers are taught to keep secrets. I was wrong to do so."
Zullo went on to say that the federal government's portrayal of him as a bully with a badge would stick with him for life and he will never be able to live it down.
"I didn't patrol the streets of East Haven praying on Hispanics or searching for felons,'' Zullo said.
Zullo was supposed to be sentenced in January, but the sentencing was delayed until the completion of a trial involving two other East Haven police officers, Dennis Spaulding and David Cari. They were both convicted of civil rights violations and are now awaiting sentencing on Jan. 21.
Sgt. John Miller has already pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. He will be sentenced on Feb. 12.
Prosecutors asked Thompson to raise Zullo's sentencing guideline level based on the facts presented at the other officers' trials, which showed a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Latinos existed and that Zullo was part of the conspiracy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Krista Patel asked Thompson to give Zullo two years in prison, the maximum sentenced allowed.
Although Thompson rejected the government's arguments for upping the guidelines, he eventually agreed with their recommendation for sentencing.
Zullo must report to prison by Jan. 16. Under his plea agreement he has the right to appeal the sentencing. It was not clear Monday if he will.
Thompson said that Zullo endangered Salatto's and the passenger's lives. He cited evidence from the trial of Spaulding and Cari that showed Zullo repeatedly "abused his power as an officer."
As for keeping department secrets, Thompson said he didn't know what to make of that declaration, "except that it certainly doesn't look good for the East Haven police department.''
Zullo was the only person to speak Monday. Others including Salatto and Lisa Zullo, the ex-officer's wife, spoke in January.
As at that hearing, several East Haven police officers and their wives filled the courtroom Monday. Spaulding and his wife attended.
Salatto testified in January that he suffered 16 broken bones.
"Zullo hit me again and again and again with his police car over the course of a mile," Salatto said. "He made it seem we were carcasses that weren't welcome in East Haven. Nobody is above the law, and nobody is beneath the law."
Lisa Zullo, in emotional testimony, questioned the FBI's tactics when they arrested her husband. She also talked about how suffering from a rare kidney disease makes it difficult for her to tend to her children without her husband's help.
Thompson acknowledged that many people had written letters on Zullo's behalf but concluded the evidence from the trial revealed Zullo was a full participant in the conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Latino motorists and business owners.
Thompson said he received a stack of letters saying what a good person Zullo is to his friends and family, but that "stands in stark contrast to how he treated his victims in this case.''