Michael Dotro, an Edison cop for a decade, admitted he firebombed his supervisor's house with the officer's family inside
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Michael Dotro, the former Edison cop who orchestrated a series retaliation plots against those who crossed him, including other officers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for firebombing his supervisor's home.
"The reality is that this person took his position as a police officer and turned it into a nightmarish storyline," Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez said before handing down the sentence. "His time as a police officer was a complete fraud."
Dotro, 40, of Manalapan, will have to serve 17 years in prison before he is eligible for parole as part of a plea deal he struck with the prosecutor's office last month, bringing to an end two arson cases and a host of misconduct charges.
Dotro, who was an Edison cop for 10 years, will also have to be resentenced on a separate payback plan after violating his probation by intimidating a witness set to testify at his trial.
Dotro's attorney, Robert Norton, asked the judge to sentence his client to the low-end of the plea deal, arguing that Dotro can be rehabilitated.
Assistant Prosecutor Russell Curley said Dotro disgraced the oath he took as a police officer in his "vengeful" plots, including the May 2013 firebombing of now-Deputy Chief Mark Anderko's house while his family was inside.
"The fact that there were five Anderkos in the house that had to scramble out to save their lives," Curley said asking the judge for the full 20-year sentence as part of the deal. "His lack of remorse is just staggering. There's no risk of re-offense, it's a certainty."
"This wasn't just an impulse decision to do," Curley said of the firebombing.
Dotro admitted to setting fire to his then-captain's house the day before opening statements were scheduled for a trial in which he and his wife faced numerous charges stemming from the slashing of a woman's car tires. He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder and arson in the fire, as part of the deal.
"Sneaking up on a home in the early morning hours while everyone was asleep and knowing that other people were in the home, that's depraved, there's no doubt," Jimenez said. "This was a targeted effort by Dotro."
Authorities have said that the officer was angry with Anderko, who days before the fire switched Dotro's shift and ordered him to undergo a fitness-for-duty evaluation with a psychologist after his 11th excessive force complaint.
The plea deal also closes the tire-slashing case against Dotro and his wife after the former officer admitted to one count of official misconduct.
Dotro was accused of cyberbullying a woman who worked in the police department, slashing her tires and accessing the department's computer database illegally about the incident.
Additionally, Dotro faced accusations of buying and keeping marijuana and paraphernalia in his police bag along with prohibited weapons, including a blackjack and brass knuckles.
His wife, Alycia Dotro, who was facing more than 21 years in prison in the trial, was admitted to pre-trial intervention as part of a separate deal with the prosecutor's office. If she completes the two-year term in the program, the charges against her -- which include drug charges and lying to investigators -- will be dropped.
"You're a monster, a manipulative monster," Alycia Dotro said to her husband in an outburst before the sentencing hearing began.
Following the sentencing, she told reporters she only attended the proceeding to see him get taken away in handcuffs.
"You don't know what has gone on behind closed doors for the last four years," she said.
"He clearly dragged her into this hellhole of a life that he led," Jiminez said during sentencing.
NJ Advance Media previously reported that the couple had been running a successful restaurant in Freehold, Alycia's Bistro, after the charges came out and gave an interview to the Asbury Park Press where they identified themselves as Michael and Alycia Frances. Mike claimed to be a former restaurant manager and Alycia as a nurse who dreamed running her own restaurant.
The couple's attorneys had made the case earlier this year to lift Michael Dotro's travel restrictions so he could cross state lines to pick up supplies for the restaurant and take his wife to an out-of-state post-stroke care facility.
Dotro also admitted to witness tampering in the days before he and his wife were set to stand trial.
Curley told the judge that someone who gave a fake name had contacted a witness via phone, according to an audio recording of the proceeding.
The prosecutor's office said Dotro worked with an unnamed person to intimidate a person set to testify.
The deal also dismisses charges related to an alleged arson plot that was never carried out. Dotro was accused of plotting with another officer, Christian Pedana, to set fire to Capt. Matthew Freeman's home in April 2013.
In a separate deal in January, Dotro admitted to planning to retaliate against the North Brunswick officer who arrested his relative on a drunk driving charge in 2012.
Dotro was given probation and fined. He will have to be resentenced for violating the terms of his probation after admitting to witness tampering.
Three other officers -- Brian Favretto, 41, of Brick, and William H. Gesell, 48, of Edison, Victor E. Aravena, 45, of Edison -- were charged in the plot.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey lauded the sentence, which ends the case that started just after he took over the office.
"We have surgically removed the cancerous police officer from the Edison police," Carey said of his joint effort with Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan to overhaul the department over the last four years.
Bryan thanked Carey and the prosecutor's office in a joint press conference in the lobby of the court house following the sentencing.
Craig McCarthy may be reached at 732-372-2078 or at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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