Thomas Spota allegedly conspired with Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke and a top deputy in the DA's office to pressure witnesses to not cooperate with an FBI investigation into the 2012. A corruption saga that began with a prisoners 2012 beating in a police precinct and reached Suffolk Countys highest law enforcement ranks concluded Tuesday with a federal judge sentencing both former District Attorney Thomas Spota and his ex-aide to 5 years in prison. The cover-up of Chief Burkes assault, witnesses at trial said, was part of a broader pattern. He was hospitalized in a stress-induced delirium, and was screaming, biting and spitting, according to medical records shown at trial. ", 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. Four days after his release from the hospital in October 2015, he received a grand jury subpoena, he said. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Burke pleaded guilty in February 2016 to violating punch victim Christopher Loeb's civil rights and obstructing justice for leading a conspiracy to conceal his involvement in the assault. Their behavior was outrageous, and their sentences today prove as much," said FBI Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge Maguire. for over a decade, Spota had successfully helped Burke avoid legal trouble regularly during their decades-long friendship. The judge said in a ruling last week that the imprisonment range both defendants were facing under federal guidelines was between 57 and 71 months in prison. During a meeting that year, Mr. McPartland speculated about who the rat was. "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. "To see any old man live the rest of his life in a prison cell, possibly dying in jail, that kinda sucks but you have to be accountable for what you did," Loeb added after court. Mr. Hickey decided to plead guilty to his role in the conspiracy and cooperated with prosecutors as their star witness, testifying on the stand for three days. Additionally, Spota was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. Former Suffolk DA Thomas Spota, ex-top aide now in prison, federal Prosecutors said the two of them, along with other officials, were able to punish people who challenged their authority. 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, stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis. "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. They placed fear of retaliation inside the minds of those who may otherwise have been willing to cooperate, and they interfered with efforts of federal investigators who were trying to get to the bottom of a heinous crime. 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. But he insisted his memory wasnt compromised by his drinking and that he never consumed alcohol after his 2013 hospital discharge. [14] In October 2017, Spota and an aide were indicted on charges of obstructing the investigation of James Burke for police brutality. They golfed together and drank together. He completed his prison sentence this year but refused to testify at trial against his old colleagues. The former chief pleaded guilty to reduced charges in February 2016. The prosecution told jurors during the trial that Spota was the "CEO" of the conspiracy, while McPartland was the scheme's "chief operating officer" as they broke the law they were supposed to uphold. Spota and. The U.S. attorney's office also argued that the defendants hadn't accepted responsibility for their actions and deserved more time in prison than sentencing guidelines recommended because of "the need for deterrence" and the "egregiousness" of their actions. Thomas Spota and aide Christopher McPartland were convicted in 2019 of running a years-long cover-up of an attack by former Suffolk County Police Commissioner James Burke on a shackled man . Burke pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and conspiracy to obstruct justice in February 2016 and was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment. With many big projects about to seek agency benefits, the answer is critical. We've received your submission. Spota and co-defendant Chris. Ex-Suffolk DA Thomas Spota, former aide sentenced to 5 years - Newsday Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, former New York City correction officer Katrina Patterson was sentenced by United States District Judge Carol B. Amon to a year and a As alleged, the defendant violated his duty as a correction officer and accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to smuggle contraband into the Metropolitan Detention Center, stated United Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in Eastern District of New York There were sex toys and porn in the pouch, and Loeb taunted the chief while being grilled over the robbery, calling him a pervert.. He earned degrees at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, and St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was written by Murphy. That decision would cost Mr. Spota his career and turn him into a convicted criminal. 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. 271 Cadman Plaza East The disbarred lawyer, who will turn 80 next month, also shared a simple wish: "I hope not to die in prison alone," Spota told the judge. 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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. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota was sentenced to 5 years behind bars. Film Extras: Interview with Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J He repeatedly promoted Mr. Burke in the Police Department, consolidating their power. 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. Both men had faced up to 20 years behind bars. Shawn Lawrence (l.) plans to sue disgraced ex-Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota, who is awaiting trial in federal court. ", In 2016, Bellone publicly called on Spota to step down with claims that Spota was "operating a criminal enterprise that must be stopped.". Mr. Spota set out to protect and defend Chief Burke, as he had before over a 40-year friendship, prosecutors said. Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland sat without expression as the verdict was read. Apr 26, 2018 at 8:20 pm. She ordered McPartland to surrender on Nov. 10. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. This culture of corruption has had a real and profound impact. 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. Senator Flanagan And District Attorney Spota Join Families To Call For Later that morning, a man was arrested with the stolen goods. Copyright 2023 WABC-TV. Vinegrad also raised the possibility of the former district attorney, who was vaccinated against COVID-19 becoming infected in prison and then possibly dying. 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. 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. Bad Cop, Worse Cop: James Burke and the Overwhelming Stench of "Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland are guilty of ruining the lives of so many . Leto retired in 2015, later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice and now is awaiting sentencing. Spota, McPartland convicted on all counts in federal - Newsday Previously, he served as news editor of Stony Brooks student newspaper, The Statesman, and was a member of the campuss chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Updated. In 2001 Republican-turned-Democrat Spota ran for District Attorney, and defeated three-time incumbent James M. Catterson Jr in November 2001, taking 58% of the vote. "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 case was assigned to the public corruption unit, led by Mr. McPartland, not the major crimes unit, where it would normally have been prosecuted. U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack meted out the penalties after a jury previously found Spota and Christopher McPartland, his former anti-corruption chief, tried to conceal that brutality and impede a federal probe to protect then-Police Chief James Burke. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. A locked padlock https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/nyregion/tom-spota-trial-verdict.html. Among the successful cases prosecuted by his office was the conviction in May 2017 of John Bittrolff, a Manorville carpenter charged with the homicides of prostitutes Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee, whose bodies were found on area South Shore beaches in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Loeb was paid $1.5 million after he filed a federal lawsuit against Suffolk County, a report by 1010wins said. [8] He was reelected in 2005,[9] and again in 2009 without any major-party opposition. Is the Riverhead IDA serving the publics interest? The former official in Suffolk County was found guilty of conspiracy after a trial that exposed a culture of corruption. All Rights Reserved. August 10, 2021 CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) A former Long Island prosecutor was sentenced to 5 years in prison on Tuesday for helping cover up the police beating of a prisoner suspected of stealing sex toys and other items from a police chief's vehicle. 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. McPartland, who also is serving a five-year sentence, is incarcerated at Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex in Texas, according to the newspaper. I met with Joselo, the brother. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. ", 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.". 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. Thomas Spota, the former Suffolk County. THOMAS J. SPOTA document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Anthony Leto testified at the trial that Burke punched, kneed and shook Loeb during the beating he also took part in, with Burke also threatening to give Loeb a "hot shot" or deadly drug dose. He was convicted along with Christopher McPartland, 53, who paradoxically had been Suffolk Countys top anticorruption prosecutor. Spota recommended a new federal task force and said that legislation was needed to "attack the owners and the distributors of these programs, who are reaping enormous profits. A federal jury on Tuesday convicted former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota and one of his ex-chief aides, Christopher McPartland, of felony charges related to the attempted cover-up of a. 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. 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. 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. 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. The government also claimed McPartland was the "architect of the lies," helping Burke craft a story about Loeb being a "junkie thief" who fabricated his tale of an assault a script everyone who became part of the conspiracy had to follow. Ex-Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota guilty of obstructing federal probe This story was reported by Nicole Fuller, Bridget Murphy and Michael O'Keeffe. His attorney, Larry Krantz, lobbied for leniency for a client he called "an honorable, decent, good man" who had "a brutal fall from grace.". A federal appeals court found Wednesday that nurses who abruptly resigned from a Smithtown facility in 2006 over working conditions, then faced child-endangerment charges that were thrown out,. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Boeckmann said Spota and McPartland got what they deserved. Now Ex-D.A. Lawyers for Spoto and McPartland, 55, had argued home confinement was a more appropriate sentence. The verdict was a hard-fought victory for the federal prosecutors and the F.B.I., whose investigation faced setbacks for years. I met with them before the indictments. But a few months later, in early 2013, Mr. Loebs lawyer publicly accused the police of assault, triggering a civil rights investigation. 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. Scandal Began With Sex Toys. Now Ex-D.A. Is Convicted on Long Island. Spota's attorney, Alan Vinegrad, told the judge his client is "a shadow" of his former self and a "fundamentally good" person who is devoted to his wife of 51 years, his three children and his grandchildren. The man in custody, Christopher Loeb, was a heroin user with a long criminal record. When Mr. Cuffs son was caught with a gun, the district attorneys office threatened to upgrade the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony. 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. In 2001, Spota won his first election as district attorney with the backing of police unions while campaigning on an anti-corruption platform. Alek Lewis is a lifelong Riverhead resident and a 2021 graduate of Stony Brook Universitys School of Communication and Journalism. "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. A lock ( US Eastern District Judge Joan Azrack handed down the 60-month stint behind bars and $100,000 in fines for the 79-year-old Spota aftera jury found the ex-district attorney guiltyof charges ranging from conspiracy to witness-tampering in 2019. He had been watching the trial from the overflow room. 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. 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.". United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/Handdowns/2020/Decisions/D62922.pdf, "Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota resigning Friday after allegedly covering up police chief beating", "Spota, under indictment, finishes DA career under cloud of cover-up charges", "A scandal sent a Long Island police chief to prison. The testimony exposed an alarming culture of corruption and retribution in a county with about 2,500 police officers, one of the largest police departments in the United States. They also presented evidence that Spota, as part of his history of covering up for Burke, wrote a 2011 letter to County Executive-elect Steve Bellones transition team. ', Long Island Siblings Saved By Heart Transplants Beat COVID. "Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland are guilty of ruining the lives of so many other families. 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. It was testimony from James Hickey, a retired Suffolk police lieutenant, that formed the heart of the governments case. The sentencing guidelines are the subject of an oral argument set for June 30, federal officials told Patch. In a rage, Chief Burke kicked and punched him. 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. 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. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and a former top aide, Christopher McPartland, surrendered at separate federal prisons Friday, prison officials told Newsday. McPartland also addressed Azrack on Tuesday before hearing his sentence. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on trial for The three men called themselves the administration, one former police officer testified. Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Jacqueline Maguire, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentences. Advertisement. I met with the Mrs. Lucero, the mother. Burke became a Suffolk cop and was promoted to sergeant; a 1995 department probe found that he had a sexual relationship with a prostitute who sold drugs, according to Newsday. In it, Spota raved about Burkes "outstanding leadership" in response to an anonymous letter that had surfaced as selection was underway for a new police chief. Ex-Suffolk Prosecutor Sentenced to 5 Years in Suspect Abuse Scandal Chief Burke thought nobody would believe his word over the police chiefs, according to witness testimony. A year later prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys Long Island criminal division reopened the investigation. They ruined lives and destroyed careers. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. 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. Approximately one year later, prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys Long Island Criminal Division reopened the investigation. /. Boeckmann also called their punishments fitting. Krantz had argued that McPartland already had lost his reputation, life savings and like Spota his law license. [10] 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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