New York City Officer Pleads Guilty in Gun-Smuggling Case :: 02/17/2012

A New York City police officer whom prosecutors called the leader of a group of officers who accepted thousands of dollars in cash in return for illegally transporting firearms into the state pleaded guilty on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The officer, William Masso, 48, admitted to all four conspiracy counts against him, just months after he and seven other current and former city officers were charged in a scheme to illegally traffic guns - including M-16 rifles and handguns with altered serial numbers, as well as cigarettes, slot machines and other goods - across state lines.

The Police Department said Monday that Mr. Masso, who had been suspended, was terminated "as of his plea today."

Mr. Masso, who worked out of the 68th Precinct in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, did not comment as he left the courtroom.

His lawyer, Ronald P. Fischetti, said that Mr. Masso, the first defendant in the case to plead guilty, was "a broken man" who was "completely embarrassed and remorseful." Charges against the other officers are pending in the case, which stemmed from a government sting operation.