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Jimmy Corallo, 27, also must remain under Megan’s Law parole supervision for life once he’s released, Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi said yesterday in Hackensack.
“I know it was wrong. I was completely out of touch with reality,” Corallo told the judge. “But I accept my responsibility, and I am very sorry to the victim.
Jimmy Corallo (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
“Since I’ve been home I’ve been taking my medication and staying away from the bad people I used to be around. I’ve been focusing on my health and my family and the things that are important,” he said. “When I get out, I will get my life together and continue to stay away from those people and influences.”
Although the victim and her family didn’t attend the sentencing, Corallo’s did.
Speaking on their behalf, his uncle said loved ones have rallied around him.
“We all agree Jimmy did a bad thing, but he is a good kid,” Mike Edmondson said.
“He has a support system now,” Edmonson told the judge. “We bought a house down the street and are going to continue to be there for him now and when he gets out. I’m very proud of how he has turned himself around. He has a lot of work to do, but he is a changed person.
“We feel for the victim and her family.”
DeAvila-Silebi said the trauma to the victim, who was 22 at the time, was one of several deciding factors she took into account.
“I have a victim who was completely violated … [who] was physically helpless,” the judge said. “People are most vulnerable when they can’t fight for their own rights.
“I also took into account that the video was 27 seconds, a short period of time — and look how much you’re paying for that,” DeAvila-Silebi added. “Twenty-seven seconds of total misjudgment. I couldn’t stop thinking about that.”
“State prison is not a nice place. It’s a violent place,” she told Corallo, “and you don’t even look 27. You look younger.”
However, experts at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel found him to not be a “repetitive and compulsive” sex offender, DeAvila-Silebi said.
That means he goes to state prison.
Although Corallo accepted a seven-year sentence from prosecutors in exchange for his plea, defense attorney Raymond Beam Jr. requested five, citing the positive steps he said Corallo has made since the February 2012 incident in Ridgefield Park. The judge split the difference, giving him six — 85% of which he must serve before being eligible for parole.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Nicholas Ostuni said that Corallo “needs to be held accountable” for what he did.
“As much as this day is about the defendant, it’s about the victim,” Ostuni said. “It’s as much about justice and punishment as it is rehabilitation. He took advantage of a young girl who didn’t ask to be put in that position. In fact, she was incapable of resisting in that condition.
“I hope he is rehabilitated, that he becomes a productive member of society — but when he finishes the sentence he so rightfully deserves,” the prosecutor said.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Nicholas Ostuni, defense attorney Raymond Beam Jr., Jimmy Corallo (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
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