Thomas Spota

Thomas J. Spota III
District Attorney of Suffolk County
In office
2001 – November 10, 2017
Preceded by James M. Catterson, Jr.
Succeeded by Tim Sini
Constituency Suffolk County, New York
Personal details
Born 1941
Political party Democratic
Education Fairfield, B.A.
St. John's Law, J.D.
Website Suffolk County District Attorney's Office

Thomas J. Spota III was the District Attorney of Suffolk County, New York. Spota was inducted into the Long Island Press Power List Hall of Fame having been named to the Power List at least five times.[1] Spota resigned November 10, 2017 after he was indicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice in the investigation of Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke.[2][3][4]

District Attorney of Suffolk County

Spota has been the District Attorney since 2001, when he defeated three-time incumbent James M. Catterson Jr.[5] He was reelected in 2005,[6] and again in 2009 without any major-party opposition.[7] Spota has been active in the fight against the distribution of child pornography over the Internet. In 2003, Spota indicted twelve Suffolk residents who utilized, KaZaA, a file-sharing program to spread child pornography.[8] As a result, Spota was called to testify before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 9, 2003 at a hearing concerning the building on "Pornography, Technology, and Process: Problems and Solutions on Peer-to-Peer Networks." Spota recommended a new federal task force and that legislation was needed to "attack the owners and the distributors of these programs, who are reaping enormous profits."[9]

Law career

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Spota worked as a Suffolk prosecutor under District Attorney Patrick Henry. He then entered private law practice in Suffolk, representing clients including the Suffolk Detectives Association and other law enforcement unions.[10]

Education

Spota grew up in New Hyde Park, New York and graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York. He earned degrees at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica, Queens, New York.[11]

Personal

He lives in Mount Sinai, New York and is married with three grown children.

Controversy

In May 2013 the FBI and the US Attorney's Office opened an investigation into the alleged assault of a suspect in police custody, subsequent cover-up and coercion of witnesses by James Burke, Chief of the Suffolk County Police Department; charges to which the former chief pleaded guilty. The federal inquiry subsequently expanded beyond Mr. Burke to investigate a broader pattern of corruption in both the police department and the office of the Suffolk County district attorney, Thomas J. Spota.[12]

In October 2017, Spota and an aide were indicted on charges of obstructing the investigation of James Burke.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Power List 2009 Hall of Fame
  2. ↑ Keshner, Andrew. "Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota resigning Friday after allegedly covering up police chief beating". New York Daily News. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Danielle. "Spota, under indictment, finishes DA career under cloud of cover-up charges". News 12 Long Island. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Swenson, Kyle. "A scandal sent a Long Island police chief to prison. Now it's brought down the D.A., too". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  5. ↑ THE 2001 ELECTIONS: NASSAU COUNTY; Suozzi Wins Easily in Rebuke of Nassau's G.O.P. Machine
  6. ↑ Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota sworn in
  7. ↑ Suffolk County Board of Elections: 2009 Election Official Results
  8. ↑ Suffolk Indicts 12 in Child Porn Archived 2006-08-23 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Testimony of Mr. Thomas Spota, Suffolk County District Attorney, September 9, 2003
  10. ↑ "For D.A. in Suffolk and Westchester". The New York Times. 2001-11-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  11. ↑ Spotlight on DA Thomas Spota
  12. ↑ Dollinger, Arielle; Santora, Marc (2016-02-26). "James Burke, Ex-Suffolk County Police Chief, Pleads Guilty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  13. ↑ "Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota Indicted In 2012 Police Brutality Cover-up". NBC. New York. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  14. ↑ "DA in New York is accused of obstructing probe into beating of suspect by former police chief". ABA Journal. Debra Cassens Weiss. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
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