Bonnie DiToro#36659
State: Massachusetts
Sentence: 15 years
Offense: Trafficking in cocaine
Court: Middlesex Superior Court
Priors: DUI (1977), gambling (1989), possession of drug paraphernalia (1996)
Date of sentencing: 8/10/98
Date of birth: 5/23/58
Projected release date: 7/16/2013
Nature of offense: 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 in 1995. Bonnie was devastated. She returned with her children to her hometown in Massachusetts, 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 were friends with another couple. This couple was running a counterfeit bill operation that Bonnie and her boyfriend were not involved in. On May 21, 1996, an undercover Massachusetts state trooper met one of the codefendants involved in the counterfeiting operation and attempted to infiltrate that operation. The undercover 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 undercover officer a kilogram of cocaine, even though they had never sold that much before. It took them a few days to raise the amount, which the undercover officer noted was of poor quality, and they agreed to meet to complete the deal at the counterfeiters’ house.
Bonnie knew about the impending drug sale but had originally wanted no part of it, so she took her motorcycle out for a drive on the afternoon the sale was to take place. While riding her motorcycle, 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 on her cell phone to pick her up, but no one was available to help her. Finally, she called her boyfriend. He said he would be happy to give her a ride 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 bag. 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 eschewed 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.
Sentences of others involved: Bonnie’s three codefendants each pled guilty and received significantly shorter sentences. Bonnie’s boyfriend received a 15-year sentence, but he will be eligible for parole, and Bonnie will not. Her codefendants involved in the counterfeiting scheme received five years each for the drug trafficking conviction, and the man involved in the counterfeiting operation got an “on-and-after” sentence of four to five years for the counterfeiting conviction. Despite her minor role, Bonnie is serving the longest sentence of all those involved.
Personal background: Bonnie's parents are currently raising her two children, who were 12 and 14 when Bonnie went to prison. While in prison, Bonnie has shown near-perfect conduct, taken many classes, worked consistently, and overcome the drug addiction and grief management issues that led to her drug abuse and involvement in this offense. Concerning her imprisonment, 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 six years. I know I made some wrong choices. But haven’t I been punished enough?”
Bonnie has filed for a request for a commutation of her sentence, and unless it is granted, Massachusetts taxpayers will pay $685,000 to keep Bonnie in jail for 15 years.* If she is released early, Bonnie plans to live with her parents and children.
Bonnie’s commutation counsel is Kenneth Resnik, (617) 742-5800, ext. 113.
Compiled from inmate information, sentencing transcript, and appeal briefs from the appellant and state.
5/13/04 JC & LH revised 2/25/08 MMG
*Based on 2004 cost of $45,670 per prisoner per year (Globe 1-25-04)