2 days ago
Ex-Long Island DA jailed for corruption resurfaces as part-time, 83-year-old law clerk
He went from Suffolk County's top prosecutor ruling with an iron-fist, to a felon, to a part-time paper pusher.
Disgraced former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, who was canned on corruption charges and sentenced to five years for helping cover up the brutal beating of a handcuffed suspect — has quietly rebranded as a clerk for a Long Island law firm.
Spota, now 83 and disbarred, is now working part-time under the supervision of Hauppauge-hotshot criminal defense attorney Anthony LaPinta, who previously defended him in court.
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3 Ex Suffolk County district attorney Thomas Spota walking out of the federal court building in Central Islip New York after his hearing in 2018.
New York Post
LaPinta's office confirmed to The Post that Spota has been working as an administrative clerk in the firm since last August, shortly after he was moved from federal prison in Danbury to community confinement.
'Mr. Spota has been under my direct supervision as an administrative clerk in my law office during his work-release designation and current supervised release sentence,' LaPinta told Newsday.
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Spota does administrative work as a 'nonlawyer administrative clerk' for about 10 to 15 hours per week for the firm and will remain on its payroll until at least the end of his supervised release, according to LaPinta.
In 2019, Spota and his former top anti-corruption deputy, Christopher McPartland, were both convicted of conspiracy, obstruction, witness tampering and helping to cover up the savage 2012 assault of burglary suspect Christopher Loeb inside a Suffolk precinct.
3 Mug shot of Christopher Loeb who was charged with Criminal Mischief 3rd Degree, Reckless Endangerment 2nd Degree, Unlawfully Fleeing a Police Officer, Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, and multiple vehicle and traffic infractions.
PIO
Then-police Chief James Burke and three detectives were said to have carried out the beating.
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Loeb was allegedly handcuffed and manically beaten by the four officers inside a Suffolk police station after the suspect broke into Burke's car and stole the police chief's dildo and porn stash to sell for drugs.
Burke was sentenced to nearly four years for the beating in 2016. He now faces another stint in prison after he was busted for soliciting sex, and even masturbating in front of a plainclothes ranger at 10 a.m. in Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Farmingville back in 2023.
3 James Burke is arraigned in front of Judge Cheng in the Cohalan Court Complex located at 400 Carleton Ave., Central Islip, New York.
Dennis A. Clark
Spota's office was later convicted of trying to bury the beating to shield his long-time friend, and sentenced to four years after Burke's conviction.
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In 2020, Spota was sentenced to five years in prison and disbarred.
At his sentencing, he told the court he felt deep shame for the damage he caused.
'I've also left [my family] with a shattered legacy and the stain of being a convicted felon.'
