Huntington Town board considers appointment of ex-official prosecuted for lying on application

A former Huntington Town director, who was charged with falsifying information on a Civil Service exam application and whose case was resolved with a plea bargain, is up for an appointment to the town's volunteer Opioid and Addiction Task Force.

Town board member Gene Cook is sponsoring a resolution at the July 12 town board meeting to appoint former director of maritime services Dominic Spada, 59, to the 11-member board. 

“He has been a true gentleman and patriot as long as I’ve known him,” Cook told Newsday on Monday. “Dom has done nothing but help the community.”

Spada is a Village of Huntington Bay resident who previously served as a village trustee. He's chief of the Halesite Fire Department and an EMT, and he has educated over 1,000 kids as the founder of the "Be Smart, Don't Start" drug prevention and education program, town officials said.

Spada did not respond to a request for comment.

Spada was prosecuted last year by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office for allegedly falsifying work experience on an application with the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service in order to get a job as a bay constable.

Spada was asked to resign by then-Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci as the charges surfaced.

Last month the current district attorney’s office said Spada's case was resolved with a plea bargain, but that the details were sealed and thus secret.

Tania Lopez, the district attorney’s office spokeswoman, wrote in an email then, "In accordance to a plea offer conveyed under the previous district attorney, Spada pled guilty. The plea and the sentence, however, are sealed so by statute we can’t disclose details of the agreement.”

Cook said the charges against Spada were unfounded and that he was proud to have him on the opioid task force as his representative.

“The community should be thankful he’s there,” Cook said.

Each town board member is allowed to appoint two members to the task force. Terms are for two years.

For a few months in 2021 while working full time for Madison Square Garden as a lead technician for telecasts of the Knicks basketball team and hockey’s Rangers, Spada also worked full time for the town. He was first hired by the town for a part-time job in 2018.

Spada had faced four years in prison on a felony charge of falsifying information on an application when he was arraigned in February 2021, then- District Attorney Tim Sini’s office said. He was also arraigned on charges of making a punishable false written statement, a misdemeanor; second-degree falsifying business records, a misdemeanor; and fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor.