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William Rosica, the disgraced former Irondequoit cop who cyberstalked an ex-girlfriend, may have been plotting "future criminal conduct" from jail, federal probation officials allege.
The nature of that criminal conduct is unclear in court papers, though it appears probation officials suspected Rosica of more cyberstalking.
A report from federal probation officials alleges "three recorded telephone calls between Mr. Rosica and his girlfriend" which the officials claim depict "a continuation of criminal conduct and the commission of future criminal conduct," according to a court filing from Rosica's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Mark Hosken.
"Based on the conclusions in the (report), it appears the claim is Mr. Rosica engaged in new cyberstalking activity in contravention of federal law," Hosken wrote. "He did not."
Those phone calls would have been made from jail. Telephone calls from jails are typically recorded, with ample warnings to inmates that their calls may not be private.
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Whatever the substance of the allegations, they did not rise to a level to prompt authorities to bring new criminal charges against Rosica.
Hosken on Thursday declined to comment. Federal prosecutors could not be immediately reached but typically do not comment before sentencing on probation reports.
Rosica was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 23 in federal court, but the sentencing has been postponed until Feb. 1.
Rosica has pleaded guilty to an ugly campaign of cyberstalking of a former girlfriend, in which he sent hundreds of harassing emails to her, her family, and her employer, and even tried to goad her into suicide.
He was an Irondequoit police officer while committing the crimes, and he even got others in law enforcement to track the woman's whereabouts, though he portrayed it as police work.
Rosica also admitted that he had harassed other women, but neither he nor prosecutors revealed how many.
Typically, federal probation officials offer a recommendation to a judge to consider at sentencing. It is this report, which is sealed to the public, that prompted Hosken to challenge some of probation's recommendations to U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci Jr.
Probation officials also decided that Rosica is not truly remorseful for his crimes, court papers show. In telephone calls from jail with family and friends, he said he disagreed with some of the admissions he made in his plea.
However, Hosken wrote in court papers, Rosica did stand by his plea when he was interviewed by probation officials for the sentencing report.
Hosken said in the papers that Rosica does accept responsibility for the crimes.
Rosica and prosecutors agreed to a sentence of five years with his plea. If Geraci decides a longer sentence is warranted, Rosica can withdraw his plea.
Federal judges largely rely on a sentencing recommendation formula, which is based in part on the crime and the criminal's past history. Prosecutors and Hosken agreed that Rosica's sentence range under the recommendations is 37 to 46 months.
Probation officials in their report differed, saying the range should be 51 to 63 months. The increase was driven in part by the difference in whether Rosica accepted responsibility.
The debate over Rosica's conduct while in jail could be moot since the probation recommendation is similar to the five-year sentence. Or, Geraci could decide that he needs to determine the validity of probation allegations of possible criminal conduct.
GCRAIG@Gannett.com