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Mark Tomat, 26, did get 30 days in the county jail, to go with the five years of intensively supervised probation, for testing positive on a March drug test, barely two weeks after he pleaded guilty to child endangerment.
He also angered Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian today when he said: “For the first time in my life I’m not nervous standing here.”
“You say you’re not nervous, but you should be,” Jerejian told him. “Because if you violate probation, you’re going to prison…for five years. So think about that every day.”
The judge also warned Tomat not to “think you can use drugs and be successful on probation….Take my word on it: You may think you can do it, but it’s not going to happen.
Tomat admitted in February that he and Tara Bradbury bought the heroin, took it to her Wyckoff apartment and used it on Valentine’s Day 2014.
After discovering an hour or so after leaving the apartment that the baby swallowed the drug because of their negligence, Tomat said he returned and gave a statement to police.
The boy, who is Bradbury’s from a prior relationship, was unresponsive when he was brought to The Valley Hospital with small bruises on his forehead after Wyckoff police got a 911 call.
Medical staff told investigators that the boy “responded favorably” after they gave him Narcan, authorities said at the time.
He was later transferred to New York-Presbyterian Hospital with swelling of the brain and eventually recovered, they said. He has since been in the care of relatives.
Although the couple at first denied knowledge of what happened, detectives found deleted messages on Bradbury’s and Tomat’s cellphones “indicating they were both aware the child had ingested narcotics and their intention to deny any knowledge of that,” according to Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.
The two tried to “blame it on the baby’s father, who wasn’t even there,” Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Demetra Maurice told the judge.
Bradbury’s probation includes an individualized drug and alcohol rehabilitation regimen tailored specifically to her needs — which is modified, as needed, as she proceeds through treatment. Although the specifics of any single rehabilitation plan are confidential, all are “appropriate to an individual’s current condition,” court officials said.
Defense attorney Warren Sutnick said his client already committed himself to Bergen Regional for five days, then entered a 28-day program at the Turning Point rehabilitation center in Paterson.
Maurice countered that the 28-day program is not sufficient for Tomat’s addiction, which by his own admission is longstanding.
For his part, Tomat told the judge he is finally willing to face his addiction.
“My way of thinking and doing things has changed,” he said. “I’m willing to listen. Anything that happens is fine with me. It’s a blessing — a chance to change my life.”
Bradbury three months ago gave birth to preterm boy. READ MORE….
STORY / TOMAT PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia
BRADBURY MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF
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