New Haven Independent

The recommendation is contained in a pre-sentencing memo filed Tuesday by Acting U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy.

It concerns former New Haven Lt. Billy White, whose career came to a crashing end last year after the feds arrested him on corruption charges, launching a citywide soul-searching and reform plan about how the city police department runs.

White was caught in a sting involving an undercover state cop masquerading as his partner in drug cases. White pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge and two counts of theft of government funds.

White is scheduled to appear in court next Monday for sentencing. Federal guidelines call for him to receive a 37 to 46-month jail sentence plus a fine of between $7,500 and $75,000.

Dannehy’s memo Tuesday urged the court to impose that full sentence.

“This Court must fashion a sentence for William White that promotes respect for the law
and that reflects the seriousness of his crimes,” she wrote. “As always, the sentence must serve not only to punish specifically this defendant, but also to act as a general deterrent. That is, to inform all police officers that society will not tolerate violations of the public trust and abuses of the enormous powers with which they are vested.

“In fashioning that punishment, the Court must recognize that White’s crimes were not
born of economic necessity, deprived upbringing or lack of opportunity. They were motivated by simple greed and a lack of respect for the rule of law.”

Click here to read the government’s full memo.

Click here and here for background stories on the case.

White’s attorney, Hubert Santos, previously filed a plea with the court to reduce the sentence based largely on two grounds: his many years of good deeds and community service; and his mental state. His memo cited a psychiatrist’s finding that White suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) from, among other causes, the murder of his son by the Latin Kings gang, whose members Billy White was sending to jail. White’s memo argued that White was particularly sympathetic, as a result, to the undercover agent’s claim that he was in “desperate need of money to help his daughters,” and thus needed some of the (planted) drug money White stole.

Dannehy (pictured in file photo) disagreed with both claims in her memo.

She argued that White presented no evidence that he was suffering from or acting out in reaction to PTSD. “The evidence, however, shows that the defendant understood the wrongfulness of his actions and that he thought about his actions and carefully took steps to insure that, with respect to the bribery scheme, he left no paper trail, and with respect to the theft, that his actions went undetected,” she wrote.

She also noted that White was taking cash bribes “for years” from a bail bondsman that the he “split a $10,000 bribe with [detective] Justen Kasperzyk. Thus, White’s alleged belief that the UCE [undercover agent] needed cash had nothing to do with his accepting bribes. Moreover if his actions were really directed at helping the UCE, why did White always keep one half if not more of the money?

“White accepted bribes because he wanted the money, not because he thought he was
helping the UCE. Moreover, his conduct during the January 31, 2007 theft belies the notion that he was self destructive. Indeed, White thought about his actions. He was concerned about cameras, concerned about being seen.”

As for White’s history of community service, Dannehy argued that the deeds were part of his work as a cop, and that previous case law establishes that work “should not be considered in his sentencing because we expect such work from our public servants.”