Josh Gimelstob, the former Tulane University tennis
star convicted of the hit-and-run death of a campus
police officer, will be incarcerated for six months
then must serve another 2 1/2 years of house arrest, a
judge decided Friday.
It has not been decided whether Gimelstob will be held
in the large Orleans Parish Prison or one of Sheriff
Charles Foti's other facilities, such as a
work-release center or a juvenile center, where he
could teach other inmates to read, defense attorneys
said. He is scheduled to start serving time Jan. 5.
Gimelstob, who pleaded guilty to negligent homicide,
hit-and-run and obstruction of justice in June, did
not take the stand. He dropped his head into his hands
as Judge Frank Marullo announced the sentence.
Afterward, the 22-year-old and his parents spoke with
the family of Sgt. Gilbert Mast, the officer killed.
Outside the courtroom, one of Mast's colleagues on the
Tulane police force shook Gimelstob's hand and
encouraged him to get on with his life.
The sentence came after an emotional day of testimony
from the relatives of the officer, who was killed Jan.
20, 1996, and from members of Gimelstob's family.
Gimelstob's mother, Patricia, sobbed as she addressed
Mast's family members.
"I want to express my sorrow. I know there is nothing
we can say or do to bring him back. Please forgive us,
" she said.
Mast, 42, was killed on McAlister Drive in the early
morning hours, as the officer was trying to wave over
Gimelstob's speeding Jeep Cherokee.
Mast, who was standing in the street, raised his hand,
signaling the driver to slow down. But the vehicle
sped up, slammed into a parked vehicle and rebounded
into him.
Gimelstob fled the scene. He surrendered to
authorities three days later. Prosecutors charged him
with obstruction of justice for taking his Jeep to a
repair shop before he turned himself in.
Prosecutor Richard Olivier said Mast's relatives were
satisfied with the sentence because they weren't sure
Gimelstob, who was expelled from Tulane this fall,
would get any jail time at all.
Gimelstob's attorneys, former Criminal District Court
judge Jerome Winsberg and Jeffrey Smith, likewise said
they thought Marullo was fair and that Gimelstob
received no preferential treatment.
"Josh was aware he probably would get some jail time,
" Smith said.
Each charge carries a maximum five-year prison term,
for a total of up to 15 years, but judges typically
run the sentences concurrently if they stem from the
same crime. In negligent homicide cases, first
offenders often receive probation and no jail time.
Prosecutors had suggested Gimelstob waited to turn
himself in to avoid a drunken-driving charge. But
Marullo noted Friday that, even after authorities
interviewed dozens of people who had seen Gimelstob in
the hours before the accident, he was not charged with
vehicular homicide, a more serious crime that involves
driving while intoxicated and a minimum one-year jail
sentence.
The sentencing ended a saga that captured headlines
and inflamed passions. After the officer's estranged
wife, Shirley Mast, and a Tulane police colleague
wrote to Marullo, asking for leniency and saying Mast
would not have wanted Gimelstob behind bars, more
letters poured in. The writers included other members
of Mast's family and people who did not know him, and
most asked the judge to be tough and cited Gimelstob's
privileged background.
Gimelstob is a member of a prominent New Jersey
family. His younger brother, Justin, is an
internationally ranked tennis player, and Josh
Gimelstob had a tennis scholarship at Tulane.
In imposing the sentence, Marullo said he was
unaffected by public opinion. "My job is to do
whatever I think is just, " he said.
On Friday, Mast's relatives took the stand and
described their lives since he was killed. Pamela
Hatten, Mast's ex-wife, said their teen-age daughter
won't have her father at her graduation or wedding or
other important milestones and will have to improvise
all her life. She described forcing Ragan Mast, now
17, to learn to drive last year because the girl was
afraid of hitting someone.
"I don't know anyone who has had to force a
16-year-old to drive, " Hatten said.
Hatten and her daughter, as well as Mast's sister,
traveled from Michigan to attend the sentencing
hearing.
Linda Walters explained how she was the first family
member to learn of her brother's death. She waited for
another brother to arrive before telling her parents.
"I didn't want to face my parents alone and tell them
their first-born son was dead, " she said.
Miriam Youngerman Miller said she and Mast were
planning to marry and were on the brink of a new life.
"We were both deliriously happy, " Miller said. "In
five seconds, it was gone."
Gimelstob's brother, mother and father testified that
Josh was remorseful and has changed dramatically since
the accident. They described a young man who has grown
more somber, more spiritual and who wants to
contribute to his community.
"Over the past two years, all I have seen is remorse
and regret, " said his brother, Justin Gimelstob. "I
just hope everyone can move on and he can live a
productive life, which I know he is going to live."
Barry Gimelstob asked the judge to spare his son a
jail sentence, saying Josh didn't know he had struck
anyone until he saw a television news report the
following day.
"Josh feels like he took the life of a good person, "
the elder Gimelstob said. "I think my son should be
punished. My son has been punished. My son has
tormented himself every day."
