Lawyer: Zaccaro Entrapped by Inexperienced Officer

An attractive, inexperienced undercover police officer entrapped John Zaccaro Jr. into selling her cocaine, Zaccaro’s lawyer told jurors today.

Zaccaro, the son of former vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro, is on trial in Vermont District Court on allegations he illegally sold a quarter-gram of cocaine to the officer two years ago. Zaccaro at the time was a senior at Middlebury College, where he was known on campus as “the pharmacist,” students have said.

Charles Tetzlaff, Zaccaro’s lawyer, told jurors in his opening statement this morning that the defense doesn’t dispute the sale but does challenge the police actions.

“The defense will not dispute the allegation that he sold a regulated drug,” Tetzlaff said. “This is a case of improper and overzealous police conduct.”

Tetzlaff said “an attractive female police officer” who had never before acted on an undercover assignment entrapped Zaccaro into making the sale.

John Quinn, the prosecutor, conceded in his opening arguments that the undercover agent was inexperienced, but he asked jurors to keep in mind that the Middlebury Police Department is a low-budget, small-town operation.

Quinn also urged jurors not to be swayed by Tetzlaff’s attacks on the police. “I’d ask you to focus on what the charge is,” he said. “Don’t let anybody put anybody else on trial other than the defendant.”

Police said they began their investigation of Zaccaro, now 24, after hearing that he was dealing drugs from his off-campus apartment.

Ferraro and her husband, John Zaccaro Sr., have sat together behind their son during the proceedings.

Ferraro, a lawyer, took an active role during the questioning of jurors. She has held in her lap the jurors’ questionnaires and has repeatedly written suggestions on index cards, which she tossed in front of Tetzlaff during the questioning.