“Cannibal cop” Gilberto Valle was convicted today on all charges in what prosecutors called a “heinous plot” to kidnap, cook and eat his wife and several other women.
A six-woman, six-man Manhattan federal court jury announced the stunning decision after 16 hours of deliberations.
Valle, 28, faces up to life in the slammer for his sickening scheme, which he hatched over the Web with people he met through the darkfetishnet.com Web site.
The verdicts stunned Valle, who slumped his shoulders and bowed his head after hearing the jury’s findings.
Valle’s lawyer Julia Gatto put her hands and head on the defense table, in total disbelief.
Gatto said jurors delivered “a devastating verdict for us” because “we truly believe in our client’s innocence.”
“Obviously, the case involved thoughts that were unusual and bizarre and frankly, very ugly, and we think that the jury just couldn’t get past that and they never got to the law,” she said.
The lawyer and her newly-convicted client bought fought back tears and hugged, before Valle was hauled away in handcuffs.
“Today, a unanimous jury found that Gilberto Valle’s detailed and specific plans to abduct women for the purpose of committing grotesque crimes were very real, and that he was guilty as charged,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said.
Valle has been held in solitary confinement since his shocking arrest last year after his wife used computer spyware to uncover her hubby’s depraved online chats.
He professed a desire to become a “professional kidnapper” and revel in the suffering of his victims as they were roasted alive.
“I’m shocked. His wife perjured herself,” the disgraced cop’s mom Elizabeth Valle said on her way out of court.
“I’m shocked, I’m shocked, I’m shocked.”
The defense argued that the six-year NYPD veteran was merely engaging in sexual-fantasy “role play” and never really intended to hurt anyone.
“The Internet is a forum for the free exchange of ideas, but it does not confer immunity for plotting crimes and taking steps to carry out those crimes,” Bharara said.
Gatto wouldn’t second-guess the defense decision to keep Valle off the witness stand.
“I firmly believe that the government didn’t prove their case,” she said. “It’s their burden and we’re not looking back on trial strategy.”
Another defense lawyer, Robert Baum, said today’s verdict set a “dangerous precedent” and that people “should be cautioned” about what they say over the Internet.
“I think it creates a very dangerous precedent … that people can be prosecuted for their thoughts and convicted, which is even sadder,” he said.
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Bharara thanked jurors for sitting through days of stomach-turning, grisly evidence.
“I want to thank the jury for their time, their diligence and their willingness to serve on a case of this nature, and I want to thank the dedicated prosecutors from my office who did such an outstanding job investigating and prosecuting this disturbing case,” he said.
Jury foreman Ceaser Monitto, 61, of Bronxville told The Post, “At the end of the day, we did what we needed to do. We put the facts together and let them speak for themselves.”
Valle’s sentencing was set for June 19.
The defense will ask the judge to set aside verdicts before then. If the verdicts stand, then Valle’s lawyer vowed to appeal.
TV reporters chased Valle’s mom into the subway, where they asked if she had any encouraging words for her son.
“Hang in there, just hang in there,” Elizabeth Valle said.
Additional reporting by Dana Sauchelli