Because of their obstructive efforts, the federal investigation was unsuccessful and was closed approximately eight months later. Former Suffolk DA James Spota Sentenced To 5 Years In James - CBS News Spotas conduct, like Mr. McPartlands, was not a momentary moral lapse. Former Suffolk County DA Tom Spota was sentenced Tuesday following his 2019 conviction for helping cover for ex-police Chief James Burke. In the 1990s, an internal investigation found that he had violated several police protocols, including having sex in his patrol car while in uniform with a prostitute who used crack cocaine. After the meeting, Chief Burke threatened that if the police detectives failed to stay in line, he would expose that Mr. Hickey was cheating on his wife, Mr. Hickey said. Prosecutors alleged that Spota and McPartland illegally intervened after the Dec. 14, 2012 beating. Film Extras: Interview with Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J Is the Riverhead IDA serving the publics interest? 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. Leto retired in 2015, later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice and now is awaiting sentencing. 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. 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. Spota was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. 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. Some were warned that if they admitted wrongdoing, their union would not pay their legal fees, prosecutors said. Mr. McPartland helped concoct a cover story that Chief Burke had just popped his head in to the interrogation room. He and Mr. Spota each face up to 20 years in prison. The defense teams for Spota and McPartland had lobbied extensively for sentences of home confinement and community service for their clients. "I hope it sends a clear message that no one is above the law and criminal conduct that betrays the public trust will be punished," the judge said of his sentence. 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. This culture of corruption has had a real and profound impact. 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. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. He had been watching the trial from the overflow room. Greg Blass We've received your submission. This story was reported by Nicole Fuller, Bridget Murphy and Michael O'Keeffe. But the prosecution painted Spota as someone who compromised his ethics to protect his loyal protg after a nearly four-decade relationship that started when Burke, at 14, was the star witness for Spota in 1979 as he prosecuted another teenagers suffocation murder. Acting Eastern District U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said in a statement after Tuesday's sentencing hearing that justice had been served after "reprehensible violations of the public trust" by the defendants. Having served as the Suffolk County D.A. 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'. Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini reflected on his predecessor's conviction Tuesday in a statement in which he said the agency he leads needs "to remain focused on continuing our progress and ensuring that the days of the past never happen again. 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. This story has been shared 137,412 times. Former Suffolk County DA Tom Spota, Aide Set For Sentencing 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. Together, Mr. Spota, Mr. McPartland and Chief Burke controlled what amounted to a law-enforcement fiefdom in the eastern half of Long Island, prosecutors said. 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.". 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. 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. "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. Lawyers for Spota and McPartland portrayed Hickey during the trial as a mentally unstable drunk and serial philanderer who lied repeatedly to his spouse and committed perjury when testifying years ago in a burglary case that a Suffolk judge threw out. 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. 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. 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. When they are sentenced, Spota and McPartland will face up to 20 years in prison. Apr 26, 2018 at 8:20 pm. Mr. Leto told jurors that he feared if he were truthful, the police chief would falsely accuse his sons of a crime or plant drugs on them. According to federal prosecutors, Spota, McPartland, Burke and other police officers met and spoke by phone to discuss how to conceal Burke's role in the assault on Loeb. McPartland also asked the judge to consider how a severe punishment would impact his family and the suffering he said they already have endured. The jury determined that Spota and McPartland obstructed justice by covering for former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who abused Loeb in 2012. The two remained close during Burke's rise, which culminated in 2012 when he was elevated to the top position in a department with more than 2,500 . Chief investigative reporter Jonathan Dienst on crime, corruption and terrorism. Triple Five, Calvertons developer, launches a review of rail options, Man Caught With Stolen Vehicle In Riverhead: Police, Search On For Suspects Wanted In Attempted Armed Robbery: PD, Take better care of your bones Join HSS for a new webinar on 5/3, JOB Needed as live-in companion/caregiver as of 5/1/23 (Suffolk County), Learn to restore physically & emotionally with Energy Healing, 'Crystals For A Cause' Benefits Greenport's Miniature Railroad Project, Minimum Wage Would Increase On Long Island Under $229B Budget Deal, Pet Adoption In The Riverhead Area: See New Local Dogs, Cats & More, Riverhead Job Openings: See Who's Hiring In The Area, Ex-Batmobile Replica Maker Has New Space To Continue Dream After Fire, LI Cat Missing For 2 Years Found In Time For Christmas: 'She Is Home! ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. McPartland was also part of the pressure campaign to get cops to cover for the chief. Burke had flown off the handle in 2012 while interrogating suspect Christopher Loeb who had stolen a bag from the chiefs SUV. Mount Sinai, New York, CHRISTOPHER McPARTLAND A jury found them guilty of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy after they pressured witnesses not to cooperate with an FBI investigation into the 2012 assault, abc7ny.com said. But the investigation escalated again in 2015 with more subpoenas. Brooklyn NY 11201, Telephone: 718-254-7000 Krantz had argued that McPartland already had lost his reputation, life savings and like Spota his law license. ", In 2016, Bellone publicly called on Spota to step down with claims that Spota was "operating a criminal enterprise that must be stopped. He was hospitalized in a stress-induced delirium, and was screaming, biting and spitting, according to medical records shown at trial. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Ex-Suffolk officer: Burke ordered officers to spy on Executive Bellone In 2001, Spota won his first election as district attorney with the backing of police unions while campaigning on an anti-corruption platform. "Because of their obstructive efforts, the federal investigation was unsuccessful and was closed approximately eight months later. 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 were each sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, federal officials said. Spota and McPartlands trial became the first time that some of those involved in Loebs assault spoke about it publicly, with two of the three detectives who took part in the beating with Burke testifying about the police brutality and how the pressure to keep quiet later changed their lives and careers. Rather, he engaged in a years-long cover-up.. Spota, who served as DA for more than a decade before stepping down in 2017, worked to protect Burke by telling detectives who witnessed the assault to stay quiet as the feds probed the incident. "Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland are guilty of ruining the lives of so many other families. Prosecutors had argued the men deserved 8 years behind bars for doing "the exact opposite" of their jobs in the face of a scandal that eventually engulfed the county's law enforcement power structure. ", Bellone said Suffolk District Attorney Tim Sini has "restored integrity to the office. 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. 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. Copyright 2023 Newsday. "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 and that corrupt police officers cannot and will not be protected by power-hungry prosecutors," she said. Uli Seit for The New. Spota and McPartland helped to ensure witnesses of Burkes crimes using threats against themselves and their families during a U.S. grand jury investigation into Burkes deprivation of Loebs civil rights. Updated. "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. Spota and McPartland were both convicted on all charges, John Marzulli, a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office, said. You have not heard an apology, Boeckmann said. I realized that my career was over, he testified, and that if I even try to go to the feds at this point, I would be dead in Suffolk County.. Both men had faced up to 20 years behind bars. for over a decade, Spota had successfully helped Burke avoid legal trouble regularly during their decades-long friendship. [10] Feds seek lengthy prison terms for corrupt former Suffolk County DA 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.". 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. The remains of at least ten persons have been found on South Shore beaches, and are believed to be related. I met with them after the indictments and before it was announced publicly what the results of the indictment were. The criminal charges hastened Spota's exit from office after 16 years as the top prosecutor in Suffolk County. On Tuesday, Mr. Spota, 78, was convicted of participating in a yearslong conspiracy to cover up for Mr. Burke after he violently beat a man accused of stealing from him while he was the police chief. Man jailed on bogus murder rap to sue disgraced Long Island DA United States Attorneys Office Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. A federal grand jury investigation into the Loeb assault as "a civil rightsdeprivation" was opened by the U.S. Attorneys Brooklyn Office, with the assistance of the FBI,in the spring of 2013, the release said. Vinegrad described Spota in a court filing as a "shattered man" whose age, declining health and record of public service supported a no-prison sentence. Vinegrad also raised the possibility of the former district attorney, who was vaccinated against COVID-19 becoming infected in prison and then possibly dying. 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. 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. Spota, 79, will begin his sentence Dec. 10. Spota told a judge at his sentencing in August that, I hope not to die in prison alone.. Police officers who received subpoenas from the FBI were interrogated afterward by Burke's allies about whether they had talked, prosecutors said. McPartland, 55, will begin his sentence Nov. 10. This story has been shared 377,217 times. 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. But he insisted his memory wasnt compromised by his drinking and that he never consumed alcohol after his 2013 hospital discharge. 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. Oct. 25, 2017. Eyewitness News has learned it appears Spota and McPartland will appeal their sentences. Spota, 80, is now an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. A year later prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys Long Island criminal division reopened the investigation. Burke physically and verbally assaulted a shackled prisoner, Christopher Loeb, in an interrogation room in Hauppauge after Loeb broke into Burkes police vehicle and stole his gun belt and ammunition, and several personal items including cigars, sex toys and pornography. He also said Spota recently was given an "uncertain" medical prognosis but didn't provide further details. His attorney, Larry Krantz, lobbied for leniency for a client he called "an honorable, decent, good man" who had "a brutal fall from grace.". Mr. McPartland and Mr. Burke used to greet one another on the phone with a vulgar imprecation. 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. I hope not to die in prison alone. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. He then arranged for Burke to be transferred to serve as commanding officer of the squad of police officials who worked directly for him as district attorney, prosecutors said during the trial. The defense attorney also argued that McPartland should get less prison time than Burke because Burke was responsible for the underlying crime. 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. . The cover-up of Chief Burkes assault, witnesses at trial said, was part of a broader pattern. Despite that,. ", (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. From December 2010, his office oversaw the investigation of numerous homicides in Suffolk County, believed to have been perpetrated by a single unidentified person, known as the Long Island serial killer, or LISK. Uli Seit for The New York Times. He was convicted along with Christopher McPartland, 53, who paradoxically had been Suffolk Countys top anticorruption prosecutor. 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. McPartland, who also is serving a five-year sentence, is incarcerated at Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex in Texas, according to the newspaper. 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