GUILDERLAND — It is in the interest of justice to relieve Samuel Groezinger of the onus of a felony conviction, said Judge Peter Lynch in county court on Thursday as he granted him youthful-offender status and sentenced him to five years’ probation with a number of special conditions. 

It is up to a judge to decide whether or not to grant youthful-offender status.

Groezinger was 19 and an emergency medical technician with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office when he was arrested by the New York State Police in January 2019 for possession and distribution of child pornography, both felonies. Groezinger was charged with distribution because he shared the child pornography on the internet, spokeswoman Trooper Kerra Burns of the state police told The Enterprise at the time. 

Groezinger was fired from his position as a sheriff’s EMT upon his arrest.

In December 2019, Groezinger pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a sexual performance by a child, a felony. 

The judge warned Groezinger, “It’s not often that you get a second chance, but you have one here.”

Lynch told Groezinger that he could stay out of court by following the conditions of his probation and that, if he violated them, he could have his youthful-offender status vacated and could be sentenced to one-and-a-third to four years in state prison. 

“I don’t think anyone here wants that,” Lynch said.

Youthful-offender status means that Groezinger’s case will be sealed and he won’t have to register as a sex offender. 

Groezinger was eligible for youthful-offender status because he was 18 at the time of the offense, it was a first offense, and it was not one of the charges that are typically ineligible — which are rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, or aggravated sexual abuse. Youthful-offender status can be granted to people who are at least 16 and less than 19.

Groezinger was represented by attorney Lee Kindlon. Ariel Fallon of the Albany County DIstrict Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, with Matthew Schrantz standing in for her during part of the sentencing.

In court, as members of Groezinger’s family listened, the opposing attorneys discussed the pre-sentencing report written by the county’s department of probation on the basis of interviews with Groezinger, and did not agree on the question of whether he had taken appropriate responsibility for his crime.

Groezinger had minimized his responsibility, said Schrantz. Groezinger had represented that he had simply viewed images belonging to someone else, Schrantz said, and that it was a one-time event “even though it was found that there were multiple images.” 

Fifteen images were found, Cecilia Walsh, spokeswoman for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, told The Enterprise Thursday. 

Kindlon told the judge that Groezinger’s mother had told him that her son had made the decision to plead guilty on his own, without telling her, because he wanted to take responsibility. Kindlon said Groezinger did that without knowing whether he would in fact be granted youthful-offender status. 

“He understood this was a big decision in his life, but he wanted to step out and take responsibility himself. If that speaks to the kind of man he’s going to be going forward, I can’t think of a better example,” said Kindlon, who added that he does not have a lot of clients who take that kind of responsibility.

Kindlon mentioned a one-and-a-half page letter from Groezinger that he said was attached to his own memo written earlier this month, requesting youthful-offender status, and said that the letter apologizes to the victim and to the people, among others, for Groezinger’s actions. 

Kindlon imagined that Groezinger would have said things that were “very similar” when he met with the Albany County Probation Department, he said.

Lynch cited an error in the presentencing report, which he said names as prosecutor someone who has not been with the district attorney’s office for years. That kind of error makes it hard to take the pre-sentencing report seriously, Lynch said. Pre-sentencing reports are not public documents. 

Groezinger now runs his own landscaping business, where he has two employees, the judge heard; in the winters, he plows snow.

If Groezinger were not granted youthful-offender status, he would not have been allowed to continue to run that business,  “which in my view is patently absurd,” the judge said. 

Lynch and the attorneys also went through, one by one, the list of more than 30 special conditions that could have been attached to Groezinger’s probation if his felony conviction had stood. 

Fallon agreed that any conditions related to sex-offender registration could be struck. 

The judge struck many of the conditions, kept some, and, after discussion, modified others. He refrained from reading aloud many of the conditions. 

One condition that the judge kept on the list was that Groezinger must supply to the probation department any user names he uses on the internet, and his passwords. 

In discussing another condition, also related to the internet, Lynch said, “The idea isn’t to prevent him from playing video games; it’s to prevent him from luring children.”

At Fallon’s request, the judge added a “no specific contact” requirement that would prevent Groezinger from contacting a local female victim who was not part of the charges because, Fallon said, her mother didn’t want police to talk to her.