Retired Nassau cop pleads guilty to knife possession while on probation for sex crime

A retired Nassau County police officer will avoid prison time after pleading guilty Wednesday to illegally possessing a knife while on probation for a sex offense.

Nassau District Court Judge Francis Ricigliano sentenced Dion Irizarry, 70, of Farmingdale, to 3 years of probation on a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The term will run concurrent to his earlier sentence of 10 years' probation for attempted sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11.

Irizarry, who retired from the police department in 1989 after 21 years on the force, must also pay a $250 fine. His attorney, Michele Capetola, declined to comment.

Irizarry pleaded guilty in February to one count of attempted sexual conduct with a child and was sentenced on May 1 to 30 days time served, fined $1,425, and ordered to register as a Level 2 sex offender.

Eight days later, two probation officers, conducting an unannounced visit to Irizarry's home, found a gravity knife in his bedroom -- a violation of his probation, according to a felony complaint. The complaint said Irizarry told a probation officer: "The knife is mine. I was supposed to get rid of it, but I didn't."

Dion Irizarry's son, Brandon, played a role in a political scandal that led to the ouster of Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Dale last year.

Brandon Irizarry, who worked on former Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick's unsuccessful third-party bid for Nassau County executive last year, gave Nassau Police Sgt. Salvatore Mistretta a civil subpoena drafted by the campaign, Mistretta has said. Mistretta served the subpoena on Randy White, a witness in a case Nassau Democrats brought against Hardwick over the validity of nominating petition signatures.

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An investigation by Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice found Dale improperly intervened in the dispute at the request of Gary Melius, owner of Oheka Castle in Huntington.