Prosecutors offer LaBruno plea deal of 12 years in state prison

Former Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno has been offered a plea agreement of twelve years in state prison for drugging and raping an underage boy just two weeks after losing his bid for State Assembly last November.

LaBruno pleaded not guilty to the five-count indictment.

At a short arraignment hearing this morning, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Sara Wilson told the judge, Gary Wilcox, that they offered LaBruno a plea deal last month that included a mandatory five years in prison without parole for second-degree official misconduct, followed by seven years for first-degree aggravated sexual assault.

Wilson said that LaBruno would be subject to Megan’s Law, parole supervision for life, a restraining order under Nicole’s Law that would prevent him from contacting the victim, and a psychological evaluation.

The official misconduct charge was a result of LaBruno being on duty as a Jersey City police sergeant at the time of the incident and “identified himself as a police officer during the incident for the purpose of hindering his own apprehension.” He also faces charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Prosecutors allege that LaBruno sprayed an unknown substance into his hand and placed it over the mouth of a teenage boy, causing the incapacitated victim to become dizzy, and then forced him to perform fellatio on him.  He’s accused of committing an act of sexual penetration through the use of coercion and without consent, and knowingly engaging in sexual conduct with a child.

Wilcox scheduled a scheduling conference for early next month.  LaBruno has been denied bail, with Wilcox agreeing with prosecutors that he posed a risk to the community and the victim and might attempt to obstruct the ongoing criminal investigation. He has been held at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack since his arrest on November 17.