A former corrections officer at the New Haven Correctional Center on Whalley Avenue was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to selling drugs to inmates — a crime that his lawyer says was brought on by his own addiction.
The officer, 29-year-old Nicholas Kosa, pleaded guilty back in June to one felony count of Sale or Possession with Intent to Sell a Controlled Substance. State Superior Court Judge Frank A. Iannotti handed down the sentence of five years, suspended after three years to serve, and three years of probation, in August.
State prosecutors sent out an email press release about Kosa’s sentencing in mid-September. The Independent recently obtained a copy of the transcript of the sentencing hearing.
According to the September press release from the state’s attorney’s office, the state Department of Correction had notified state police that a corrections officer was suspected of smuggling narcotics into the 245 Whallley Ave. jail. After an investigation, Kosa admitted to having Suboxone and cocaine in his duffel bag at work. He told state police that he was bringing in the drugs for an inmate but wasn’t looking for compensation, and he “confessed to bringing Suboxone to the facility to distribute to an inmate the previous week.”
“A total of 31 Suboxone strips and 3.7 grams of cocaine were located in a blue latex glove among the defendant’s possessions,” the press release reads.
During the Aug. 14 sentencing hearing, the defense and prosecution presented their agreed-upon sentencing recommendation. “This is a fair sentence,” said Attorney David Strollo, representing the State of Connecticut. “The state feels it’s the right thing under all circumstances.”
During the sentencing, Kosa said, “I would like to apologize to the State of Connecticut, Department of Corrections, all the staff at New Haven Correctional Center, my family. I’m very sorry. I apologize to the courts, and I take full responsibility for my actions and I apologize.”
Attorney Michael Speight, who represented Kosa, said that Kosa attended a drug and alcohol treatment program while incarcerated. “This is an incident that was brought on by substance abuse and something that my client takes full responsibility for.”
“You probably weren’t in the right job,” Judge Iannotti said to Kosa. “You already had a predisposition to a drug problem and to have that drug problem and to act as a corrections officer for the State of Connecticut, that probably was a dangerous formula right there where you had too much opportunity to do the wrong thing.” If he had gotten help earlier, the judge said, he might have avoided an arrest.
Strollo noted that there might be safety concerns for Kosa, since he was a corrections officer. Iannotti agreed, and asked, “Do you want protective custody?”
Kosa and his lawyer said that he did.
Iannotti ordered protective custody for Kosa, and recommended that he remain where he was being held at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, at Kosa’s request. He is still being held at Garner.