A Rochester City Court judge who was found guilty last month of violating the terms of her conditional discharge on a DWI conviction received a two-month jail sentence Thursday.
Acting Rochester City Court Judge Stephen Aronson sentenced Judge Leticia Astacio to 60 days in jail and an additional three years of probation. Astacio, who has been behind bars since June 5, also is required to wear an ankle monitor for six months.
But with credit for the month she has already served, and a reduction of time for good behavior, Astacio will likely be released in mid-July.
Astacio will serve 45 days of the 60 day sentence, with credit for the 30 days she has already served.
Bridget Field, Astacio's attorney at the Law Firm of Mark A. Young, called the sentencing "outrageous" and told the New York Law Journal that she planned to file an appeal on behalf of her client Thursday afternoon.
"I welcome anybody to research if they can find somebody convicted of a first time DWI that receives a maximum sentence," said Field, who noted that Astacio is a working mother with no previous criminal background.
Astacio was arrested in February 2016 for driving while intoxicated on Interstate 490 in Rochester. Last August, she was found guilty of DWI, given a conditional discharge and ordered not to drink for a year. She also was ordered to have an ignition interlock device installed on her car. But that fall, the ignition interlock device in her car registered Astacio as showing alcohol on her breath.
In November 2016, Astacio was accused of being intoxicated at a mall restaurant when she refused to leave an employee bathroom and was seen in photos published on Facebook holding a beverage at a Thanksgiving gathering.
Aronson, in March, found that Astacio didn't violate the terms of her conditional discharge during the incidents at the mall or Thanksgiving, and he ruled that the Facebook pictures weren't proof of violation (NYLJ, March 28). But on April 29, the interlocking device on her car again registered positive for alcohol.
Less than a week later, Astacio booked a one-way ticket to Thailand. While there, Aronson ordered that Astacio take a urinalysis. Edward Fiandach, Astacio's former lawyer, said she didn't know about the urine test order because she was at a Thailand monastery and unreachable by phone.
When she failed to show up for a May 30 court date, Aronson issued a bench warrant for her arrest. Astacio was arrested June 5 after being summoned to a meeting with her boss, 7th District Administrative Judge Craig Dora.