Former Nassau Deputy Police Commissioner Begins Jail Sentence

William Flanagan, the former Nassau County deputy police commissioner, began his jail sentence today after an appeals court denied his attempt to overturn the verdict.

Flanagan, 59, of Islip, was convicted in 2013 of two counts of official misconduct and one count of conspiracy in connection with his role preventing the arrest of a Merrick teenager whose father was a personal friend and financial benefactor of the police.

Merrick resident and former Kennedy student Zachary Parker, then a teenager, was charged with stealing more than $3,000 worth of computers after he allegedly broke into Kennedy High School in 2009. Flanagan, along with fellow officers John Hunter and Alan Sharpe, were indicted by a grand jury on charges that they conspired to and intentionally prevented the arrest of Parker.

The Long Island Press, which first reported the story in March 2011, says that Parker's father, Gary, is a business associate of a group called the Nassau Police Department Foundation, which says on its website that it was founded to help fund a new police academy.

"William Flanagan’s imperious behavior brought scandal to his department and this county," District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. "Today, nearly eight years after his crime, William Flanagan is finally serving his sentence for official misconduct and conspiracy. New York’s highest court unanimously affirmed his conviction for unlawfully hindering the arrest of a friend’s son. No one – including William Flanagan – is above the law and I thank our prosecutors for their outstanding work at trial and in the appellate courts."

According to Newsday, Flanagan surrendered himself to Nassau County Jail and was then transferred to the Suffolk County prison facility in Riverhead. Because he is a former police officer, he his being held in protective custody — meaning he will be locked in his cell 23 hours a day and get one hour of free time in the yard. He is expected to serve about 40 days in jail.