Former Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota (79) was sentenced to five years in prison for "covering up the brutal police assault of a handcuffed prisoner who was accused of stealing a bag of sex toys from a car belonging to the chief of police," reports Law & Crime.
Spota's troubles began in Dec. 2012, when Suffolk County Chief of Police James Burke—Spota's onetime protégé—discovered that someone had broken into his car and stolen a duffel bag containing his gun belt, sex toys, pornography, Viagra, and cigars. A few hours later, officers arrested a known heroin user who had the bag in his possession and handcuffed him to the floor in the station's interrogation room. When the suspect learned who Burke was, he allegedly taunted the chief, calling him a "pervert," which reportedly caused him to fly off the handle.
"For a few minutes, prosecutors said, Mr. Burke assaulted the suspect, screaming and threatening to kill him until a detective in the room finally said, 'Boss, that's enough,'" according to a report from The New York Times.
District Attorney Spota stepped in to cover up the assault. At Spota's trial, a police officer told the court that he attended a meeting in District Attorney Spota's office, where Spota talked about how to deal with a federal probe looking into Burke's assault. Spota told the officer to find out any officers had "flipped" on Burke.
Burke was sentenced to 4 years. When Spota received his sentence he told the court, '"I hope not to die in prison alone … My family will forever be marked by my disgrace."
