Judge gets Spota trial date for March, 2019
Former Suffolk County district attorney Thomas Spota, left, leaves federal court with his attorney Alan Vinegrad on Thursday, April 12, 2018. A trial date has been set for March, 2019. Credit: James Carbone
A federal judge Thursday set a trial date of March 18, 2019, for former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, and a former key aide, Christopher McPartland, who are charged with taking part in a cover-up of an assault by former Suffolk police Chief James Burke.
U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack said that the date was firm, acknowledging that many of the attorneys in the case have conflicts on earlier dates due to other trials.
Spota and McPartland each face four counts: conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an official proceeding; witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding; obstruction of justice; and accessory after the fact to the deprivation of civil rights, according to the indictment.
If convicted they each would face up to 20 years in prison. They have pleaded not guilty.
Federal prosecutors said Spota, 76, of Mount Sinai, and McPartland, 51, of Northport, used “intimidation threats and corrupt persuasion to pressure . . . witnesses, including co-conspirators not to cooperate with the federal investigation, to provide false information, including false testimony under oath, and to withhold relevant information from” federal investigators.
Burke is serving a 46-month term in federal prison for violating the civil rights of Christopher Loeb by assaulting him while he was restrained in a Suffolk police precinct, and then trying to cover it up. Loeb had been arrested after taking Burke’s duffle bag from his vehicle.
Azrack was recently named to oversee the Spota-McPartland case following the death of the judge who originally handled the case, U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Wexler. She is currently presiding over the trial of former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, his wife Linda, and former Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto on corruption charges.
At Thursday’s Spota-McPartland status conference, which took place during a break in the Mangano-Venditto trial, Azrack set June 20 as the next court date.
Eastern District Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is trying the case with prosecutor Lara Treinis Gatz, said the government already turned over a large quantity of discovery material to the Spota-McPartland defense and anticipates handing over the rest within 45-50 days.
Both Spota and McPartland declined to comment after the brief hearing, as did their attorneys; Larry Krantz for McPartland and former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Alan Vinegrad for Spota.
Durham and Treinis Gatz also declined to comment.
Afterward, Spota walked past Mangano in the court hallway, but the two were engrossed in separate conversations with others.
Spota’s appearance drew separate onlookers from the trial crowd, such as Suffolk Legis. Rob Trotta, Islip town board member Trish Bergin Weichbrodt and former Det. John Oliva, whom Spota’s office charged after he leaked material to a Newsday reporter.
One of the Mangano-Venditto prosecutors, Raymond Tierney, also watched. He used to work for the Suffolk district attorney’s office and left after Spota took office.
With Andrew Smith
Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.
Out East: Mecox Bay Dairy, Kent Animal Shelter, Custer Institute & Observatory and local champagnes NewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us "Out East," and shows us different spots you can visit this winter.
Out East: Mecox Bay Dairy, Kent Animal Shelter, Custer Institute & Observatory and local champagnes NewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us "Out East," and shows us different spots you can visit this winter.
