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Former Suffolk County DA and Top Prosecutor Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison
A federal judge has handed down a 5-year prison sentence to former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and former Chief of Investigations and Chief of the Government Corruption Bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (SCDAO) Christopher McPartland. The two were convicted of conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an official proceeding, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and being accessories after-the-fact to former Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) Chief of Department James Burke’s deprivation of a prisoner’s civil rights.
The sentences stem from the defendants’ December 17, 2019 convictions, following a six-week federal jury trial, on all four counts of the Indictment.
Spota was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.
The crimes date back to December 2012, when 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, New York. Loeb had broken into Burke’s official police vehicle and stolen his gun belt and ammunition, and a duffel bag containing cigars, sex toys, prescription Viagra and pornography.
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. 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.
“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 Jacquelyn M. Kasulis.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and the sentences were announced by 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).
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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