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Mostly Cloudy Robert Zafonte sentenced to six months in jail
Former East Meadow civic leader also gets five years probation
Robert Zafonte, longtime president of the East Meadow Civic and Community Service Organization, was sentenced on Monday to six months in prison and five years’ probation.
Zafonte, 65, pleaded guilty in October to a variety of charges that stemmed from his false accusations of several community members over a span of about five years. The accusations ranged from reporting parents for domestic abuse to charging a school official with stealing money from the district. Zafonte’s accusations were targeted at rivals.
In his Mineola courtroom, Nassau County Judge Jerald Carter explained that the defendant’s crimes were damaging to the victims. “Having to defend against false accusations is nightmarish,” Carter said. “It’s like hell on earth as a parent.”
Zafonte’s defense attorney, Robert McDonald, condemned his client’s criminal actions but emphasized his record of serving his community. He asked the judge to be lenient, and to consider the fact that Zafonte is undergoing treatment for stage-four colon cancer.
“There were people who have seen a different [Zafonte] — someone who cares, someone who went out of his way for them,” McDonald said. “Then we have these terrible letters.”
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Garbarino reminded the judge that prosecutors sought a three- to nine-year prison sentence. He named the victims in the case and briefly summarized their experiences. “Frankly, these are absolutely cruel,” Garbarino said. “It was a brutal response to a normal set of events.”
Zafonte is a former chief investigator for the Town of Hempstead attorney and a retired New York City Housing Authority police officer.
“You present any judge with a quintessential dilemma — what to do with a good person who does bad things,” Carter told him.
Carter set Jan. 12 as the date for Zafonte to surrender to authorities. He is to be incarcerated at Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, the judge said, though that depends on whether the jail can accommodate his medical needs.
