NYPD Cop sentenced to nearly 5 years in gun smuggling

NYPD cop William Masso leaves Manhattan Federal Court on Friday

A corrupt Brooklyn cop who smuggled guns and stolen goods with help from other NYPD officers was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in prison.

William Masso, 48, clutched rosary beads and wept as Manhattan Federal Court Judge John Koeltl handed down the sentence.

"My actions disgraced me, my family and my friends, and especially the New York City Police Department who I considered family," sobbed Masso, who was also ordered to forfeit $50,000 he got in the scheme.

He said he started out smuggling cigarettes and then "it just spiraled out of control."

"I'm so sorry for what I've done and how I've ruined the best job in my life," he said to Koeltl.

Masso was working midnights at the 68th Precinct when he was arrested last October in an FBI sting and charged with conspiring to bring guns, slot machines and cigarettes across state lines.

Also busted were his 11 cohorts, including seven other active and retired NYPD officers recruited by Masso.

On tape, Masso bragged to an FBI informant that he was putting together "a good army" to help him.

Masso was paid $6,000, and the other cops even less, to transport three M-16s, a rifle and 16 handguns to New York. The FBI made the guns inoperable.

Koeltl said Masso's crimes were "indisputably serious, with not a hint of justification and he offers no excuses for his actions."

Masso faced up to six years in prison after pleading guilty in February to four conspiracy counts.

Koeltl gave Masso credit for his 19 years as a cop and ordered him to begin his sentence Oct. 14.

Ten of Masso’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty and one of them, a former New Jersey Corrections Officer, has been sentenced to prison for 27 months. The other sentencings are pending.

By Robert Gearty / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS