Although he was at first only charged with impersonating a police officer and grand larceny, the ensuing investigation turned up the fact that Terry had also kept prisoners locked up in a phony police station; he allegedly set a live cat on fire; and also allegedly raped teenage boys. He also supposedly bound a prisoner to a chair with duct tape and terrorized him with a spray can and a lighter.
When all was said and done, the investigation turned up evidence of other "officers" who dressed in uniforms and worked with Terry out of a five-room office in Hempstead, Long Island that Terry had used as his "jail," who were prepared to testify against him if Terry's case made it to trial. Terry also allegedly stole a vehicle and money from his former landlord so that he could have resources to investigate the Aryan Brotherhood, and purportedly embezzled $120,000 in cash and credit cards from a retired city bus driver so that he could help protect the man from Freemasons. Terry was also accused of raping a woman who, when it came time to go to trial, refused to testify against him.
By the time the real police investigation was completed, Terry faced a 54-count indictment that could have netted him 132 years in prison if convicted on all counts. However, on Friday, May 30, 2008, Terry and his lawyers reached a plea agreement with Suffolk County authorities.
"He walked in today and was willing to admit to what he said he was guilty of all along," said Brian Browns, one of Terry's attorneys. "He is full of remorse."
In the agreement that was reached, Terry pleaded guilty before Suffolk County Court Judge C. Randall Hinrichs to first-degree criminal impersonation of a police officer, aggravated cruelty to animals, first-degree coercion, third-degree criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and two counts of grand larceny for crimes that occurred between January 2005 and January 2007.
Terry is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, 2008. He could receive between 20 ½ to 40 years in state prison, but could be eligible for parole in slightly less than 10 years under current sentencing guidelines.
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