U.S. District Court Judge Joan Azrack told Spota and McPartland that they violated the public's trust and described their actions as "unconscionable" and as "shocking criminal conduct." To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com. "Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland are guilty of ruining the lives of so many other families. [5], Spota was born in 1941 and grew up in New Hyde Park, New York, on Long Island. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and Christopher McPartland, the former Chief of Investigations and Chief of the Government Corruption Bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office (SCDAO), were each sentenced today by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack, to five years in prison. Retired Det. After hearing four weeks of trial testimony, a federal jury on Long Island found Mr. Spota guilty of four counts, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering. This story was reported by Nicole Fuller, Bridget Murphy and Michael O'Keeffe. He also said Spota recently was given an "uncertain" medical prognosis but didn't provide further details. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Boeckmann said Spota and McPartland got what they deserved. They depicted Burke as Spotas "professional child of sorts" and a wise elder who told a golf buddy after Burkes conviction that he shouldnt sympathize with the wayward cop because he "did it to himself.". In addition to pressuring people not to cooperate, they asked witnesses to provide investigators with false information and withhold relevant information from investigators, federal prosecutors said. Kenneth Bombace, who also took part in the beating, testified under an immunity deal that he stashed his family in a hotel in 2015 before testifying separately before a grand jury about the conspiracy. Lawyers for Spoto and McPartland, 55, had argued home confinement was a more appropriate sentence. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine today after attempting to obstruct a federal investigation into the brutality of a prisoner by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke in 2012. All rights reserved. Mr. McPartlands lawyer, Larry H. Krantz, said, There are many more legal steps in the case, and we will continue to fight for this.. The pre-pandemic verdict supported the prosecution's contention that both defendants orchestrated a cover-up of the beating of the shackled burglary suspect that Burke carried out with three detectives inside a Hauppauge precinct. "These men were the highest ranking prosecutors in Suffolk County and they flagrantly disregarded the law and the sanctity of their public office to protect an equally high-ranking, lawless police officer," she added. Mr. Burke later became a police officer. But a few months later, in early 2013, Mr. Loebs lawyer publicly accused the police of assault, triggering a civil rights investigation. CENTRAL ISLIP, Long Island (WABC) -- Former Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday following his 2019 conviction for helping cover for a former protg who as police chief punched a handcuffed man suspected of stealing embarrassing items from his police department SUV, including sex toys and pornography. The judge also sentenced the former DAs top aide and ex-chief of his anti-corruption unit, Christopher McPartland, to five years in prison for the cover-up, as well. In 2019, a jury convicted Spota, of Mount Sinai, and McPartland, 55, of Northport, of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and acting as accessories to the deprivation of prisoner Christopher Loeb's civil rights. Spota was convicted of witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, and he must report to prison by December 10. One of the detectives present for the interrogation had to jump in to stop Burke from beating on Loeb, who was shackled at the time. James Burke, center, the former Suffolk County police chief, pleaded guilty in 2016 to the assault of a man who had broken into his police car and the subsequent cover-up. He was convicted of obstruction, witness tampering, and conspiracy charges in December 2019 [17] and disbarred in June 2020. HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The families of four victims killed in hit-and-run crashes in Suffolk County called on Albany on Tuesday to enact tougher sentences for drivers who flee the scene. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, a jury found the ex-district attorney guilty, Off-duty NYPD cop dies after LI car crash: sources, LI bouncer covered security camera before brutal beating that led to bar patrons death, Long Island nurse arrested after slamming newborn into bassinet: Suffolk DA, Here are the wild animals that a NY lawmaker wants to ban from homes. Official websites use .gov Spota has been active in the fight against the distribution of child pornography over the Internet. Leto retired in 2015, later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice and now is awaiting sentencing. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Boeckmann said in court Tuesday that Spota still hadn't apologized for actions that had "an absolute chilling effect" on the county's criminal justice system and implored the judge to impose prison time. "Instead of serving the people of Suffolk County, these defendants brazenly abused their exceptional positions of power and public trust to protect their friends and hurt their enemies," Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said. Spota, 79, of Mount Sinai and McPartland, 55, of Northport, were sentenced by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack; Spota was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, officials said. Now it's brought down the D.A., too", "Former Long Island Prosecutors Sentenced in Plot to Protect Police Chief", THE 2001 ELECTIONS: NASSAU COUNTY; Suozzi Wins Easily in Rebuke of Nassau's G.O.P. Bellone, the Suffolk County Executive, said outside the federal courthouse Tuesday he knew he had inherited a government in crisis when he began serving in his role a decade ago. Spota and McPartland were successful in thwarting the investigation at first, until the case was reopened and witnesses were able to testify when granted immunity. Mr. Spotas lawyer, Alan Vinegrad, declined to comment on the verdict. Additionally, Spota was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. Burke pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and conspiracy to obstruct justice in February 2016 and was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment. "Somebodys talking. . Former Chief of Investigations and Chief of the DA offices Government Corruption Bureau, Christopher McPartland, was sentenced to five years in prison alongside Spota for the same crimes. Mr. McPartland helped concoct a cover story that Chief Burke had just popped his head in to the interrogation room. McPartland, 55, will begin his sentence Nov. 10. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Thomas J. Spota, the former district attorney in Suffolk County, N.Y., was found guilty on Tuesday of four counts, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering. The thief took a duffel bag from the car that contained sex toys, a pornographic DVD and Viagra. Burke pleaded guilty in 2016 to the beating and cover-up, serving most of a 46-month prison sentence before his release to a halfway house. In December 2012, then-chief of the SCPD, James Burke "physically and verbally assaulted a shackled prisoner, Christopher Loeb, who was under arrest and being held in an interrogation room at the 4th Precinct in Hauppauge," a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office said. McPartland was also part of the pressure campaign to get cops to cover for the chief. At an August 2015 meeting involving some of the people involved in the alleged cover-up, prosecutors said, McPartland warned that Loeb "did not get beaten badly and there were no marks and that nothing would happen as long as the people that were in the room with (Loeb) did not talk. The defense attorney also argued that McPartland should get less prison time than Burke because Burke was responsible for the underlying crime. There is absolutely no place for this type of behavior within our criminal justice system. Thomas J. Spota III (born 1941, New York) is a former American attorney and politician, who served as the District Attorney of Suffolk County, New York, serving from 2002 to late 2017, but was disbarred on June 10, 2020. The jurors reached the guilty verdict after deliberating for about seven hours over two days. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream, Earth warming likely to pass limit set by international leaders, Street racing hit-and run crash leaves woman dead, man hurt in Brooklyn, police say, Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts. Mr. Hickey testified that he was ordered to instruct his men to deny, deny, deny. Mr. Spota and the others involved in the cover-up handpicked one of the three officers, Anthony Leto, to lie under oath about the assault during a court hearing, Mr. Hickey said. "Loeb had broken into Burkes official police vehicle and stolen his gun belt and ammunition, and a duffel bag containing cigars, sex toys, prescription Viagra and pornography.". [1] Spota resigned November 10, 2017, after he was indicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice in the investigation of Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke. The star prosecution witness said during the trial that he began drinking while under extreme pressure to keep his intelligence unit detectives quiet about the Loeb beating. Former Det. Expand. 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", Sini added that the defendants' actions represented "the worst of law enforcement," while saying their actions "devastated many people individually" and "deprived Suffolk residents of what they deserve from public officials.". When a sitting District Attorney and one of his top prosecutors are corrupt and use their power to intimidate witnesses and cover up a brutal assault by a high-ranking law enforcement official, they not only jeopardize the safety of citizens who are entitled to the protection of the law, they also undermine confidence in the integrity and fairness of our criminal justice system, Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said. Thomas Spota, the longtime district attorney of Suffolk County, Long Island, was accused of conspiring with the county police chief and a top deputy in the DA's office to pressure witnesses to . The man in custody, Christopher Loeb, was a heroin user with a long criminal record. Despite that,. "Burke, Spota and McPartland used the power and influence of their official positions, and the threat of retaliatory arrest and prosecution, to keep anyone from cooperating with that investigation," federal officials said in the release. He won election after election for 15 years with bipartisan support. ", "The actions of these defendants represent the worst of law enforcement," said Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini Tuesday. He completed his prison sentence this year but refused to testify at trial against his old colleagues. ", (The Associated Press contributed to this report), * Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts, Retaining wall collapses in the Bronx due to severe weather, Karl Lagerfeld legacy showcased in Met exhibit. "We are paying for that corruption today. I met with them before the indictments. But he insisted his memory wasnt compromised by his drinking and that he never consumed alcohol after his 2013 hospital discharge. Hickey linked Spota and McPartland directly to the conspiracy with testimony that included his recalling of a June 2015 meeting in Spotas office that happened after federal officials relaunched a probe into Loebs beating after their initial investigation fell flat in 2013. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. He was one of the most powerful men on Long Island, serving as the top prosecutor in a suburban county with 1.5 million people. "These sentences send the right message to the public that they can have faith in their criminal justice system - that the system is not broken," she said. The survival of local journalism depends on your support. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine today after attempting to obstruct a federal investigation into the brutality of a prisoner by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke in 2012. Spota and Burke had a kinship that dated to the ex-chief's teenage years in the late 1970s, when he was a star witness in a murder case that Spota was prosecuting. But the good news is that this culture of corruption has been swept out of the district attorney's office and has been replaced with a culture of integrity," he added. "For well over a decade, I've personally endured horrendous crimes committed by and under this man," Loeb said referring to Spota. Spota: Yes, I met with them. [15][16] Spota resigned from office on November 10, 2017. Testimony showed Hickey was hospitalized in 2015 after hallucinations brought on by stress and sleep deprivation, after a separate 2013 hospitalization for pancreatitis after excessive alcohol intake. Current Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said in a statement following the sentencings, "The actions of these defendants represent the worst of law enforcement.". "I hope not to die in prison alone," the 79-year-old Spota told U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack before hearing his penalty, calling his conviction "the lowest point" in his life and saying he feared and expected it would be his legacy. The governments case is being handled by the Offices Long Island Criminal Division. He told jurors he acted as a middleman in a yearslong conspiracy to cover-up Loebs beating after being tasked with ensuring the silence of the three detectives. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS He and Mr. Spota each face up to 20 years in prison. LONG ISLAND, NY Former Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota, 79, and his chief investigator, found guilty of obstruction by a jury in 2019 for covering up an incident during which a man was beaten after he stole a duffel bag from a former police chief filled with sex toys and pornography are set for sentencing. With many big projects about to seek agency benefits, the answer is critical. The former chief pleaded guilty to reduced charges in February 2016. McPartland, who worked directly under Spota, also had built a close friendship with Burke, and was the first person who Burke called the morning he discovered that his vehicle had been burglarized," the release from the U.S. Attorney's office said. Proving obstruction of justice required the government to present evidence that the defendants acted with a corrupt purpose, a high legal bar. It was testimony from James Hickey, a retired Suffolk police lieutenant, that formed the heart of the governments case. They were accused of helping cover up the 2012 police beating of a prisoner suspected of stealing sex toys and other items from a police chiefs vehicle. This story has been shared 121,843 times. In December 2012, then-Chief of the SCPD, James Burke the highest-ranking uniformed police official in Suffolk County physically and verbally assaulted a shackled prisoner, Christopher Loeb, who was under arrest and being held in an interrogation room at the 4th Precinct in Hauppauge, New York. To maintain the lie, Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland relied heavily on Mr. Hickey, the police commander who supervised those three detectives. Local law enforcement eyewitnesses had been frightened into silence, as they feared retaliation against themselves and their families from within the Suffolk County Police Department and the District Attorneys Office.". On Tuesday, after the verdict was read, Mr. Loeb, the man who was assaulted by the police chief, poked his head into the emptying courtroom. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York, the pair will be sentenced on August 10 at 10:30 a.m. at the courthouse in Central Islip. Three other police detectives had been in the room participating in the beating, and it was imperative that they all stuck to the same story. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. That year in Nassau County, Democrats also were victorious in many positions. They ruined lives and destroyed careers. The thief took a duffel bag from the car that contained sex toys, a pornographic DVD and Viagra. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. "The allegations of covert spying, threats made against perceived enemies, relentless intimidation tactics, and outright fear were spelled out clearly by federal prosecutors and I commend them for their outstanding work. Azrack said no one is above the law. The former official in Suffolk County was found guilty of conspiracy after a trial that exposed a culture of corruption. Krantz cited what he said was McPartlands history of public service and good deeds, calling him a loving husband and father and someone who worked his way through college and law school before earning accolades throughout his career. This culture of corruption has had a real and profound impact. She said that Burke had pleaded guilty quickly after his separate arrest and that, as prosecutors, Spota and McPartland were supposed to be an "essential bulwark against police misconduct.". Burke also enlisted the help of his long-time mentor, then-District Attorney Spota, and McPartland, his personal friend and then-Chief of both Investigations and the Government Corruption Bureau, to ensure that the witnesses kept quiet. During closing arguments, Krantz presented jurors with a list of "10 reasons why James Hickey cannot be believed" that included "raw self-interest" and a "psychotic break from reality.". Police officers who were supposed to investigate gangs and school shootings would be diverted to help their chief with petty vendettas and mundane tasks, like spying on his girlfriends or driving him to the airport, former officers testified. Without recordings of conversations, the trial hinged largely on the testimony of one witness: James Hickey, a former police commander who worked in Mr. Spotas inner circle. Disgraced former Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota landed five years in prison Tuesday for obstructing a federal investigation into a cover-up involving sex toys, assault and a top local . ', Long Island Siblings Saved By Heart Transplants Beat COVID. . [8] He was reelected in 2005,[9] and again in 2009 without any major-party opposition. Mr. Loeb was held on $500,000 bail, an unusually high amount for a car break-in. He told jurors he testified falsely during a hearing in Loebs case and feared Suffolk police or prosecutors would fabricate charges against him or his family if he didnt go along with the cover-up. Now Ex-D.A. He described it as a coalition of five high-powered, corrupt insiders who were behind the cover-up and would take collective aim to discredit and punish their enemies. The verdict came after the jury sat for five weeks listening to evidence, including reports of secret meetings between Spota and McPartland, cell phone tower data, and phone records; Burke previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced, News 12 said. Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Jacqueline Maguire, acting assistant director-in-charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the sentences. 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Spota told a judge at his sentencing in August that, I hope not to die in prison alone.. The pair face up to 20 years in prison but will likely receive lower sentences due to federal guidelines, according to Newsday. When Mr. Cuffs son was caught with a gun, the district attorneys office threatened to upgrade the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony. Having served as the Suffolk County D.A. With todays sentences, justice has been served and the defendants have learned the consequences of their crimes, just like anyone else who has broken the law.". But Thomas J. Spota, the district attorney in New Yorks Suffolk County, had an Achilles heel. Thomas Spota was the prosecutor. [1] Already a lame duck for foregoing a re-election bid, Spota announced his retirement just days after he was charged amid growing pressure from politicians and the public. Then in 2001, Mr. Spota, who switched parties from Republican to Democratic, was elected district attorney. The cover-up of Chief Burkes assault, witnesses at trial said, was part of a broader pattern. A year later prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys Long Island criminal division reopened the investigation. "The verdict today confirms what I said on May 12, 2016 when I stood on the steps of the district attorney's office calling on him to resign that Tom Spota, along with Christopher McPartland, was running a criminal enterprise out of the district attorney's office," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in 2019. Mr. Hickey said that he stayed awake at night, feeling paranoid. Spota and. Thomas J. Spota, the Suffolk County district attorney, and his top anti-corruption prosecutor were charged on . A former Long Island prosecutor convicted of obstructing justice after a prisoner was beaten has begun serving a five-year federal prison sentence. According to federal prosecutors, Spota considered anyone cooperating with the investigation into Burke a "rat," demanded that a police officer find out who was cooperating, and threatened that informants "would never work in Suffolk County again.". They golfed together and drank together. After the assault, Burke ordered high-ranking lieutenants of the SCPD to ensure that the detectives and officers who had witnessed the assault would never reveal what they had observed. (Provided) A 46 . Burke attacked Loeb in a police station interrogation room after Loeb was arrested for breaking into the ex-chief's unlocked, department-issued GMC Yukon and stealing a bag containing his gun belt, ammunition, a box of cigars and a bag containing sex toys and pornography. Advertisement. They're guilty," Loeb wrote on Facebook in 2019. The jury determined that Spota and McPartland obstructed justice by covering for former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who abused Loeb in 2012. ", He added that at the time he called for the resignation: "Tom Spota's power was at its peak and their criminal enterprise was in full swing. The three men called themselves the administration, one former police officer testified. Mr. Spota said that if one police officer cooperated, Hell never work here again and I will see to it, according to Mr. Hickeys testimony. A federal grand jury investigation into the Loeb assault as a civil rights deprivation was opened by the U.S. Attorneys Brooklyn Office, with the assistance of the FBI, in the spring of 2013. /. Disgraced former Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota landed five years in prison Tuesday for obstructing a federal investigation into a cover-up involving sex toys, assault and a top local police chief. In a rage, Chief Burke kicked and punched him. The convictions of Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland make it clear that the days of Long Islands good old boy networks combining politics, power and policing to benefit a select few, at the expense of the taxpaying public, are dead and gone, said Richard Donoghue, the United States attorney in the Eastern District of New York. Having served as the Suffolk County DA for over a decade, Spota had successfully helped Burke avoid legal trouble regularly during their decades-long friendship. [11] Spota was called to testify before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 9, 2003, at a hearing concerning "Pornography, Technology, and Process: Problems and Solutions on Peer-to-Peer Networks." Spota and McPartland were both convicted on all charges, John Marzulli, a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office, said. While doing so, Azrack said Spota did "incalculable damage" to the criminal justice system after "not a momentary lapse" in judgment but a yearslong conspiracy that included threats against witnesses. He told jurors Spota grilled him on who he suspected had "flipped," or started cooperating with federal officials. [10] Spota and McPartland were successful in thwarting the investigation at first, until the case was reopened and witnesses were able to testify when granted immunity. Spota was convicted in December 2019 on federal charges of conspiracy . "Their conduct has devastated many people individually, deprived Suffolk residents of what they deserve from public officials, and was a disservice to all the honest, hardworking men and women of law enforcement. Main Office The verdict was a hard-fought victory for the federal prosecutors and the F.B.I., whose investigation faced setbacks for years. Prosecutors said Spota and McPartland did "the exact opposite" of their jobs so they could protect Burke in a nefarious plot aimed at maintaining a power structure controlled by those who believed they were above the law. Chief Assistant US Attorney Nicole Boeckmann had argued for prison for Spota, saying he had failed to take responsibility for his actions to this day. All rights reserved, Met Gala 2023: Start Time, Theme, Guests & Everything Else to Know, Construction May Make Getting to JFK Airport a Nightmare for 3 Years: What to Know, 20 Students Injured in Long Island School Bus Crash With Pickup Truck, 25-Year-Old Makes $200/Hour Without a Bachelor's Degree: I Work Less Than 6 Hours a Day'. Alek Lewis is a lifelong Riverhead resident and a 2021 graduate of Stony Brook Universitys School of Communication and Journalism. He entered private law practice in Suffolk, representing clients including the Suffolk Detectives Association and other law enforcement unions.[7]. McPartland, who also is serving a five-year sentence, is incarcerated at Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex in Texas, according to the newspaper. Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland were convicted of obstruction of justice and other crimes for their role in a scheme to protect James Burke. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. Authorities suspect he was stealing from cars to buy heroin. During a meeting that year, Mr. McPartland speculated about who the rat was. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and a former top aide, Christopher McPartland, surrendered at separate federal prisons Friday, prison officials told Newsday. Later that morning, a man was arrested with the stolen goods. He always had a soft spot for a police officer named James Burke, who rose under his tutelage to become the countys chief of police. The administration panicked, prosecutors said. Uli Seit for The New York Times. "[12] Mr. Loeb was paid $1.5 million after he filed a federal lawsuit against Suffolk County for "being beaten while shackled to the floor of an interrogation room by former Police Chief James Burke in 2012 after stealing a duffel bag packed with a gun belt, ammunition, sex toys and pornography from Burke's vehicle," a report by 1010wins said.

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