It's time to reveal Levy's mysterious deal with Spota

Nearly 13 years have passed since then-Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy reached a uniquely secret agreement with then-Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota. Levy, a popular figure who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, forfeited his $4 million campaign fund and didn’t seek reelection, all to avoid charges believed related to fundraising but never disclosed.

Levy insists that nondisclosure was a key feature of his peculiar pact with Spota, who has since been convicted and disgraced for separate reasons. The former county executive has been fighting in court to keep the terms of this bewildering and worrisome government action buried forever. Now a panel of three judges in the state’s midlevel appellate division has upheld an earlier court ruling that Levy turn over a copy of the non-prosecution agreement to Newsday under terms of the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

Correctly, the judges sided with lower-court judge Paul Baisley Jr.’s previous ruling that any promise of confidentiality made to Levy did not shield the document from FOIL. The appellate judges agreed that nothing in the document required it be sealed. It was simply labeled “privileged and confidential.”

Still, Levy’s lawyer David Besso said his client is considering an appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest. In doing so, he references another disgraced player, convicted former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke, saying: “Mr. Levy was vindictively spied upon by the Spota/Burke cabal because he was an uncontrollable enemy in their effort to anoint Burke police chief. No officials are safe if rogue prosecutors are able to spy on their enemies, never bring charges, and yet threaten to disclose all the private surveillance collected.”

That might be a fair summary of what happened to Levy but it's not a compelling argument to stop the document from being made public. Everyone involved in the case has had more than a decade to prepare for its revelation.

Spota’s four-term tenure as DA was indeed marred by a highhanded, out-of-control approach to the job. In the end, he seemed less committed to law enforcement than to exercising dangerous influence over public offices beyond his own. The deal that canceled Levy marks a key piece of the county's seamy institutional history. There has to be, even at this late date, an informed discussion of just what went off the rails.

Were the charges threatened against Levy actually prosecutable, or were they nothing more than a prod to embarrass and bring down a political opponent? Either way, the public should know. Was there a lawful reason to open the investigation? Was there anyone else involved who acted illegally or unethically? People should know that, too.

Once again we say: Let this information out to help account for this dark and dubious public episode.