Bonnie DiToro

State: Massachusetts
Offense: Trafficking in cocaine
Sentence: 15 years
Priors: DUI (1977), gambling (1989), possession of drug paraphernalia (1996)
Year of sentencing: 1998
Year of birth:  1958
Projected release date: July 16, 2013
 
In 1995, Bonnie was living in Germany with her husband, an Army Special Forces officer, and her two teenage children when her husband died suddenly of a heart attack.  Bonnie was devastated.  She returned with her children to her hometown of Lunenburg, MA, depressed and suicidal.  She began abusing cocaine and soon started dating her dealer, who sold drugs to subsidize his own addiction. 
 
Bonnie and her boyfriend-dealer were friends with another couple that, unbeknownst to Bonnie, was running a counterfeit bill operation.  On May 21, 1996, an undercover officer met one of the codefendants involved in the counterfeiting operation.  The officer mentioned that he needed a new cocaine connection, and the woman involved in the counterfeiting operation said she could help him.  Bonnie’s boyfriend and the couple involved in the counterfeiting operation agreed to sell the officer a kilogram of cocaine, even though they had never sold that much before.  It took them a few days to raise the entire amount, which the undercover officer noted was of poor quality. They agreed to meet to complete the deal at the counterfeiters’ house on May 24.
 
Bonnie knew about the impending drug sale but wanted no part of it.  She took her motorcycle out for a drive on the afternoon the sale was to take place.  While she was riding, a tractor-trailer cut into her lane, forcing Bonnie off the road.  She was not injured, but the accident left Bonnie traumatized and her motorcycle mangled.  She called her parents and friends to pick her up, but no one was available to help her.  Finally, she called her boyfriend.  He said he could take her home, but he needed to make one stop on the way.
 
Bonnie drove herself and her boyfriend to the home of the counterfeiters, and her boyfriend carried the drugs into the home in Bonnie’s handbag.  Bonnie sat in the living room while the drug deal was conducted in the adjacent kitchen.  After her boyfriend sold the cocaine to the undercover cop, police stormed the house and arrested everyone.
 
On the advice of her attorney, Bonnie rejected a three-year plea agreement and took her case to trial. She lost, and because Massachusetts’ rigid mandatory minimum drug laws consider no factors except the weight of the drug involved, the judge was forced to sentence Bonnie to a mandatory sentence of 15 years.
 
Bonnie’s three codefendants each pled guilty. Bonnie’s boyfriend is serving a 15-year sentence, but he will be eligible for parole while Bonnie will not.  Her codefendants involved in the counterfeiting scheme received five years each for the drug trafficking conviction.  Despite her minor role, Bonnie is serving the longest sentence of all those involved.
 
While in prison, Bonnie has overcome the substance addiction and grief management issues that led to her drug abuse and involvement in this offense.  Bonnie’s recent request for a commutation of her sentence was denied, so Massachusetts taxpayers will pay over $48,000 each year (as of 2008) to keep her behind bars. When she is released, Bonnie plans to return to Lunenberg to live with her parents.  Bonnie’s two children, 12 and 14, when she went to prison are now adults with kids of their own.
 
Bonnie writes, “Unlike those convicted of violent crimes, I cannot earn parole, pre-release, the bracelet program or any ‘good time’ off my 15-year sentence. I have been sitting in a cell for the last 10 years. I know I made some wrong choices. But haven’t I been punished enough?”