Valva Trial: Ex-NYPD Officer Gets 25 Years To Life In Prison

CENTER MORICHES, NY — Former-NYPD Officer Michael Valva was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison after he was convicted last month of murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of his 8-year-old son Thomas.

Valva faced a minimum of 15 years to life and a maximum of 25 years to life. Valva's attorney John LoTurco has said they would appeal the sentence.

On Thursday, prosecutors urged the judge to sentence Valva to 25 years to life in prison. The defense, meanwhile, told the judge Thomas' death was not an intentional crime — the defense disagreed it was "depraved" murder, but instead, one of the lesser charges they'd advocated — and urged the judge to give Valva less than the maximum sentence.

Valva, 45, was also found guilty of four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, for which he was sentenced to one year for each charge, the judge said.

Valva, along with his then-fianceé Angela Pollina, who will have a separate trial, were arrested Jan. 24, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Each faced 25 years to life in prison.

A crying, unshaven Valva told the judge he was sorry. "I am truly sorry. I am regretful, ashamed, heartbroken and grief-stricken, having contributed to the death of my son Thomas," he said.

He added: "I loved my son Thomas with all my heart. Never in my worst nightmares," he said, did he mean to cause his son's death.

Valva said he and Pollina dreamed of having a "big, happy family," but things didn't go as planned, he said. "I lost focus on how to be a good father."

Facing Judge William Condon, he said, "I didn't want my son to die."

He told Condon, "I accept your sentence. I have already sentenced myself to a life of extreme regret, remorse and grief."

Assistant District Attorney Keriann Kelly said Thomas and his brother had two distinct, different lives — an idyllic life at school where they were nurtured by teachers. Teachers — and jurors —were present in court.

They were also "tortured in what passed for a home on Bittersweet Lane."

Because of Valva, she said, "We will know what Thomas could have become, what his mark on the world would have been." He will never get to experience the highlights of life — high school, college, falling in love and fatherhood.

"All these life experiences were stolen from Thomas by his own father," she said.

The boys were subject to "cruel punishment because of his obsession with Angela Pollina," Kelly said, forced to urinate and defecate in the yard, live, sleep and eat in the garage.

Valva was home on the last night of Thomas' life, she said. He knew how cold it was the day Thomas died, 21 degrees, but forced the child outside naked before washing him with icy water. Thomas was in the "throes of death" from hypothermia while his father screamed at him, calling him "a f------ slob, a f------ moron."

No matter what his sentence, Kelly said, Valva will get a bed in jail, have heat and a pillow, and three meals a day , instead of having to forage through the garbage for crumbs, like his boys did.

On his last Halloween, Thomas was dressed like a prisoner, Kelly said. "It symbolized Thomas' life: Thomas was a prisoner, with his death sentence executed," she said.

Defense attorney LoTurco maintained that they took the case because everyone deserves fair representation. LoTurco said he wished the public could see Valva the way they had. "He was a broken man," he said, who was remorseful for his actions, omissions, and inactions.

LoTurco called the crime one of recklessness and not intent. He said on the day of Thomas' death it was a "perfect storm" of stresses related to Pollina that caused the "uncontrolled outbursts" — the stress, he said, "boiled over."

Condon, speaking to Valva, said he believed he was sincere in saying he was sorry. He said it was the most "stressful" trial he'd ever been a part of. "How did all of us as a community allow this to happen?"

The judge said Thomas and Anthony "lived their young lives under constant duress in the place where they should have felt safest — their own home."

And, he said, rather than acting like a father who protected his children, Valva acted as a warden, using starvation and punishment. "As a New York City police officer, that makes your actions that much more unimaginable, to be candid," he said.

Condon, his voice filled with emotion, said: "An 8-year-old boy, who should be getting excited for Christmas, is dead."

He added: "We can never let this happen again."

Gino Cali, father of Pollina's youngest daughters, said he did not believe Valva's tears were sincere. "A little boy is still dead. How is that justice?"

“This is one of the most difficult and heartbreaking cases I have experienced in my nearly 30 years as a prosecutor," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. "No prison sentence is adequate for the cruel treatment this defendant inflicted on his own children. The torture that killed Thomas . . . was nothing short of evil."

He vowed that Suffolk County would have proper safeguards to prevent this from ever happening again.

Jury selection for Pollina's trial is slated for February. Pollina, like Valva, pleaded not guilty.

Justyna Zubko-Valva, the boys' mother, spoke out on her Facebook page Wednesday, saying she had concerns to raise and was praying for a life sentence.

Thomas and his older brother, who both have autism, lived in a "house of horrors," according to Kelly. When he died, Thomas' body temperature was 76.1 degrees, 20 degrees lower than normal.

Witnesses, including teachers at Thomas' school, sobbed as they recounted seeing Thomas and his brother starving, cold, with bruises and scratches, and eating crumbs from the floor. The boys were sent to school in urine-cloaked clothing and pullups, they said.

Zubko-Valva pleaded for help on her Twitter page before her son died. In 2020, she filed a $200 million wrongful death suit. In June, a judge ruled that portions of the $200 million lawsuit can move forward, a judge ruled.