Zaccaro in Luxury Apartment : Vermont Governor Asks Review of House Arrests

Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin has asked for a review of a state corrections program that has allowed John A. Zaccaro Jr. to spend his four-month prison term for selling cocaine by living in a $1,500-a-month apartment.

Louis Berney, a spokesman for the governor, said Monday that Kunin believes the overall program is outstanding but that she is concerned about inequities in living accommodations among participants.

Zaccaro, the son of former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro, was convicted in April of selling a quarter-gram of cocaine to an undercover officer while a student at Middlebury College in 1986. He was sentenced to one to five years in prison, with all but four months suspended.

Find Own Housing

Zaccaro was deemed eligible for the state Corrections Department’s “house arrest” program, under which nonviolent convicts can find their own housing while they remain under close supervision by corrections officials. The program is designed to ease prison overcrowding.

Zaccaro, 24, is staying in a luxury apartment with room service and cable TV in a building designed for expense-account business people on short assignments.

“This guy is a drug felon and he’s living in conditions that 99.9% of the people of Vermont couldn’t afford,” said Addison County State’s Atty. John Quinn, who prosecuted Zaccaro.

State corrections officials say they have no control over the quality of the living quarters. “The department doesn’t provide the apartment,” said John Perry, director of planning for corrections. “The prisoner does that. We are only concerned that it meets minimum standards--no drugs, no guns, no college kids hanging around.

Some ‘Have More Money’

“Obviously, some people, Mr. Zaccaro among them, have more money than others, and they can afford a better place. The Aga Khan probably wouldn’t think much of his apartment,” he said.

“The governor believes people should be treated equally regardless of personal circumstances,” so she has asked for the review, Berney said. He said Kunin had no suggestions for solving the inequities.

Berney said it was important to remember that Zaccaro “does not have freedom in any sense of the word. He works most of the time, and is restricted to his apartment for the rest of the time, with the exception of one hour a week in which he has to go grocery shopping.”

Zaccaro works at a community youth center in Burlington.