But, "If you did anything wrong in any way, he would persecute you, transfer you and ruin your career.". In 2013, he had a contractor illegally put a GPS device on a high-ranking civilian police official he disliked, hoping to gather blackmail information, prosecutors said. The man beaten by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke has filed a second lawsuit stemming from a second incident where he alleges police again used excessive force. "That's basically how they put fear in [officers]. Prosecutors, however, have said in court papers that Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland operated in a manner more akin to criminal enterprise than a district attorneys office.. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream, beating a man who broke into his police cruiser in 2012 and then trying to hide the alleged assault. FBI agents arrest the former Suffolk County Chief of Police James Burkeoutside his Smithtown home on Dec. 9, 2015. Federal prosecutors have described a climate of fear and retribution cultivated by top law enforcement officials in Suffolk County, where subordinates worried their careers would be destroyed if they did not obey corrupt orders. His full sentences was scheduled to be completed in April 2019. Anyone can read what you share. As a result, officers who were present for the beating or heard Burke brag about it at a Christmas party stayed quiet for years, prosecutors said. Loeb said at the time he required the walker due to dog bites sustained during his arrest. Feb. 26, 2016. Also in the bag was a gun belt and ammo. Prosecutors called Burkes time as chief a reign of terror.. During this arrest the defendants physically beat, terrorized and threatened Christopher Loeb and during this arrest the defendants encouraged, directed and/or permitted a Suffok County police dog named 'Brick'to attack the plaintiff and as result of this attack by 'Brick,'the plaintiff suffered substantial pain and serious physical injury," the lawsuit states. He also forfeited the Jeep. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Detectives and sergeants have been known to earn more than $200,000 a year. A union official falsely told several officers that Burke and "other high-ranking Suffolk County law enforcement authorities'' had secretly obtained copies of FBI memos containing the names of people speaking with investigators. Burkepleaded guilty to the chargesand had asked to be sentenced to probation so he could take care of his mother, who is battling cancerand is in a wheelchair. The former chief, James Burke, 51, who was known for his swaggering confidence as the leader of one of the regions largest police departments, was subdued in Federal District Court here as the charges against him were read aloud. Both men started serving their prisonsentences early this year. Anyone can read what you share. I feel Mr. Burke acted as a dictator, the judge said as the former chief sat stoically with his hands folded in front of his chin. Officers subpoenaed by FBI agents investigating the 2012 beating were interrogated afterward about whether they had talked, prosecutors said. A federal prosecutor involved in the case declined to comment Tuesday. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. The former police chief of Suffolk County pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from accusations that he beat a suspect in custody, threatened to kill him and then coerced his fellow officers into covering up the misconduct. N.J. Burkett has the latest details from Long Island. Burke resigned from the force in October after a 31-year career. I have been fighting this corruption in Suffolk County long before Spota was prosecuted and the media began reporting on it. He will then have three years post-supervised release and pay a $250,000 fine. Mr. Burke not only survived that incident but also thrived. Central Islip federal Judge Leonard Wexler trashed Burke as a dictator during sentencing, when the ex-lawman apologized to Loeb. Inside the courtroom, his victim, Christopher Loeb,locked eyes with Burke and said, "You abused your power, and I will never again feel safe living in Suffolk County," 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported. Leto testified that the spying was under the guise of providing him security. As chief of the SCPD, Burke had been involved in the Gilgo Beach investigations, and in fact, had fired Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominic Varrone in late 2011 just two days after Gilbert's body was found. prison terms for ex-Chief of Department James Burke. / AP. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- A suburban New York police chief who orchestrated a department cover-up after beating a handcuffed man for stealing embarrassing items from his SUV has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison. A federal prosecutor involved in the case declined to comment Tuesday. Burke pleaded guilty in February 2016 to obstruction of justice and violating the civil rights of prisoner Christopher Loeb, a self-admitted heroin addict who had broken into his department-issued SUV in December 2012. They said, 'If you guys don't toe the line and keep lying, we are going to 'Oliva' you," said Oliva. Paying more despite good credit? But before we delve into that, we should mention his long career in law enforcement. Two Suffolk County criminal intelligence officers involved in the 2012 arrest of a Smithtown man convicted of taking a duffel bag out of former police chief James Burke's department-issued vehicle . The maximum possible sentence for the civil rights charge is 10 years in prison; for the obstruction charge, it is 20 years. "There was a level of justice here and that even somebody as high ranking as the chief of police can't engage in that kind of misconduct and that kind of corruption and that kind of coverup and get away with it," said Loeb's lawyer, Bruce Barket. Mr. McPartland, 53, was the chief of the offices public corruption unit. As a result, officers who were present for the beating or heard Burke brag about it at a Christmas party stayed quiet for years, prosecutors said. When the police later arrested a heroin user with the bag, Mr. Burke walked into the station house to confront the man, who was handcuffed to the floor of an interrogation room. Drugs were found in the prison cell of a disgraced former Long Island police chief serving time for beating up a man who stole a stash of porn and a sex toy from his official police vehicle and covering it up, according to a report. The theft suspect, Christopher Loeb, was arrested after someone broke into the chief's department-issued SUV in 2012 and made off with a gun belt, handcuffs, magazines of ammunition, a box of cigars, humidor and a canvas bag that contained, among other items, sex toys and video pornography, authorities said. . The defense accused the government of turning Mr. Burkes longtime friendship with Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland into a crime, saying the conversations that the three men had during the federal investigation did not rise to the level of obstruction of justice. The victim, Christopher Loeb, addressed Burke in court. Wexler noted more than 80 people wrote letters seeking leniency, calling Burke a good man who helped many people in a 31-year career. The ex-police chief pleaded guilty last winter in the beating and cover-up. During the same meeting, Mr. Spota, Mr. McPartland and Mr. Burke discussed who was a rat and directed a police officer to remind other officers what happened to people who go against the administration.. Before being named chief in 2012, he worked as an investigator for the Suffolk County district attorney. He was released from prison this year after receiving a 46-month sentence. In 2012, Christopher . Compared with those in other departments, officers in the Suffolk agency are well paid, making $125,000 in base pay. I and others did knowingly and intentionally conspire and took affirmative steps to obstruct, including conspiring with other participants not to cooperate with the investigation, so that the grand jury and the United States Attorney's Office would not find out the true events of December 14, 2012.". Mr. Hickey had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, and Mr. Krantz said that he was testifying only to spare himself a harsh prison sentence. He had subordinates conduct surveillance on his girlfriends, prosecutors said. Despite the efforts of the defendant and his co-conspirators to obstruct the federal investigation, he has been brought to justice.. "I think that it's the beginning of the end of corruption. Hes very remorseful.. Hell be vindicated, he said. It started with a duffel bag containing sex toys, cigars and a pornographic film. He asked for no prison time because he says his mother is dying of cancer. Two decades ago, as a sergeant, Mr. Burke had a sexual relationship with a prostitute, according to an internal affairs investigation that accused Mr. Burke of accidentally leaving his handgun with the woman, Newsday reported. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream. Federal prosecutors have signaledthat charges may be looming for accomplices who helped Burke cover up the crime. Copyright 2023 WABC-TV. All rights reserved. He was convicted of assaulting a man in 2012 during an interrogation and obstructing a federal investigation. Credit: James Carbone, Michael O'Keeffe covers Suffolk County police and other Long Island law enforcement agencies. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. Internal Affairs reports also found Burke had engaged in sexual acts in police vehicles and had a sexual relationship with a convicted felon. Loeb drove across lawns to evade police, and motorists told police that he drove atmore than 100 mphon Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road, sometimes on the wrong side of the road, until he stopped at a gas station in Islandia and ran into the woods. [21] Burke violently assaulted a man in custody who had stolen a duffel bag from Burke's police vehicle. The case was notorious on Long Island. Suffolk County has a custom, policy, pattern and/or practice of permitting, ratifying and acquiescing to the use of excessive force against the plaintiff because the plaintiff was a target of the defendants as a result of the plaintiff exposing corruption and the use of excessive force within the Suffolk County Police Department in a prior civil rights action against the county of Suffolk, the complaint said. The bag belonged to James Burke, the police chief in Suffolk County, and was stolen from his parked car in December 2012. To prove Mr. Spota and Mr. McPartland were guilty of obstruction, according to the defense, the government must show the two men knew they were asking others to lie. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Burke, 52, who was Suffolk's highest-ranking uniformed cop for four years until he resigned in late 2015, was segregated from other prisoners after the drug was discovered recently, sources. In the 2012 incident that led to his downfall, Burke was exacting revenge on a man who broke into his SUV that year. NEW YORK, NY - Former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke who was sentenced for assaulting a man and trying to cover it up was released from the federal prison in Pennsylvania earlier this week, according multiple reports. When Mr. Burke entered the interrogation room, Mr. Loeb was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt fastened to the floor, according to prosecutors. Some were warned that if they admitted wrongdoing, their union would not pay their legal fees. Burke's mentor, Spotawas sentenced to serve five years in prison in August 2021 after a jury found him and McPartlandguilty in December 2019 of witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy for their role in the cover-up. Their lawyers on Thursday placed the blame squarely on Mr. Burke. Capers was seated at the prosecution table during the sentencing but did not immediately comment afterward. Mr. Spota, 78, served for more than 15 years as the top prosecutor in Suffolk County, on the eastern end of Long Island. Prosecutors said Burke also abused his authority by entering Loeb's residence as police searched for evidence, retrieving his canvas bag and other articles and jeopardizing a larceny investigation that victimized many other civilians "solely to retrieve embarrassing articles." Burke . Credit: Barry Sloan. The Associated Press contributed to this report. We are honored to serve and protect the residents of Suffolk County. Loeb was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and other charges and pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in April 2019. Prosecutors called Burke's time as chief a "reign of terror.". Burkes Manhattan lawyer, John Meringolo, denied that drugs were found in Burkes locker. We don't know.". I plead guilty, Your Honor, said Mr. Burke, wearing a drab khaki prison uniform. He had subordinates conduct surveillance on his girlfriends, prosecutors said. "We will seek to hold accountable anyone who violates another's civil rights or attempts to obstruct justice.". He was released about 6 months early for good behavior, according to the New York Post. Joseph Conway, Mr. Burkes lawyer, later told reporters that he planned to argue for a sentence of less than five years in prison for violating the suspects civil rights and conspiring to obstruct justice. With time served, he'll spend 35 months behind bars. Paying more despite good credit? Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Mr. Spota had been a longtime mentor and friend of Mr. Burkes. After the interrogation, Mr. Burke pressured the detectives who witnessed the assault to conceal it. In a pre-sentencing letter to Wexler, prosecutors said "high-ranking officials" from other county agencies helped Burke silence potential whistleblowers after he pummeled a heroin addict who had taken his gun belt, ammunition, a box of cigars and a bag containing sex toys and pornography. "The charges [from the 2019 incident]were dropped because they were not based in true facts," Cassar said. When the police later arrested a heroin user with the bag, Mr.. We've received your submission. One officer told a federal agent that if that were true, "I'm a dead man,'' the letter said. Before the sentencing, ex-Suffolk County police Chief James Burke apologized to police, the judge, the victim and the people of the community. Thomas J. Spota, center, leaving court after being charged with obstruction of justice in 2017. But, Wexler said, "He also did bad if you were not on his side. James Burke was formerly the police chief of the Suffolk County Police Department and previously served in the rank of Inspector as the commanding officer of the police department's Organized Crime Bureau. Mr. Burke has not cooperated with prosecutors and is not expected to testify at the trial of his former colleagues. "You're talking about a man who is a two-time convicted felon, admitted heroin dealer, who did not make allegations that day that he was beaten up by anybody," he said. He has asked for no prison time because he says his mother is dying of cancer. On Wednesday, former officer Kenneth Bombace, who admitted to assaulting suspect Christopher Loeb with Burke, testified he covered it up because Suffolk police officers feared a fate similar to Oliva's if they ever crossed Burke. Mr. Spota was a longtime Republican who ran as a Democrat to win election in 2001. Former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke Sentenced to Federal Prison Former Suffolk Police Chief Accused of Assault, Covering up Federal Investigation Last month he was released from. The co-conspirators were not identified in the letter, but prosecutors said their investigation is ongoing. He fought aggressively to expose sexual abuse by Catholic priests and was widely praised for prosecuting corrupt officials in both parties. "In terms of obstructing justice, it is hard to imagine a more serious example of this conduct than the highest-ranking uniform member of the police department assaulting a suspect and then orchestrating a coverup of his actions for three years during which he suborned perjury and prevented witnesses from telling the truth,'' U.S. Attorney Ronald Capers said in the letter. "RRCs help inmates gradually rebuild their ties to the community and facilitate supervising ex-offenders' activities during this readjustment phase. Burke pleaded guilty to the charges and served time in prison. He noted that more than 80 people had written letters seeking leniency and calling Burke a good man who helped many people in a 31-year career. U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Wexler said Burke's crimes went beyond the beating and affected the entire 2,000-member police department. Leto told jurors that Burke had a number of "unorthodox assignments" for him and other officers in the criminal intelligence unit, including tailing the stepson of Burke's girlfriend to see if he broke any laws. James Burke is former Police Chief in Suffolk County, New York. He was named chief in 2012, the highest-ranking uniformed position in the department, which, like New York Citys, is led by a civilian commissioner. Prison officials found oxycodone a controlled substance prescribed for pain management in former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burkes cell at the low-security federal lockup in Allenwood, Pa., sources told Newsday. Before that, Cameron served as chief after James Burke resigned the position over his role in the assault of a handcuffed prisoner. He has sued Burke and the Police Department, seeking damages. At that time I, along with others willfully used unreasonable force and slapped and hit this individual causing bodily injury. All Rights Reserved. In the 2012 incident that led to his downfall, witnesses testified he went out of control after the handcuffed suspect called him a pervert during an interrogation - punching, screaming and cursing and threatening to kill him with a heroin overdose. There were some bombshells dropped Thursday in the obstruction of justice trial of former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota and his top aide Christopher McPartland, including an allegation that former chief James Burke ordered officers to spy on Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. The assault prompted a federal criminal investigation that lasted more than four years and eventually led to the resignation not only of the police chief but also of the longtime Suffolk County district attorney, Thomas J. Spota, who was accused of trying to cover it up. County officials said Chief James Burke turned in his resignation, which is. After 37 years, Suffolk County's police commissioner is retiring This page is not available in other languages. Loebs attorney, Christopher Cassar of Huntington, said the alleged 2019 attack was linked to Loeb's efforts to bring Burke and other officials to justice after the 2012 assault. "He's been through a lot in Suffolk County.". Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. ", Burke will be able to leave the facility only through a sign-out procedure for "approved activities.". Officers subpoenaed by FBI agents investigating the 2012 beating were brought in and interrogated about whether they had talked, prosecutors said. James Burke, left, former chief of the Suffolk County Police Department, is taken into custody by FBI agents outside his home in Smithtown on Dec. 9, 2015. Credit: James Carbone By Robert E . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. During the assault, Loeb was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt fastened to the floor at the Fourth Precinct. SCPD members who witnessed the assault came under direct and extreme pressure from the defendants and others to conceal it, prosecutors said. Questions of Burkes fitness to lead surfaced as far back as 1995, when he twice was found to have failed to safeguard his weapon. In what has been called an "unusual move," he was then criminally prosecuted by Spota and McPartland. 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, thats enough.. Loeb pleaded guilty to reckless driving in April, according to a spokeswoman for Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney. Loeb later pleaded guilty to a weapons charge and was sentenced to three years in prison; he was released last summer. The series centers on the scandal-ridden former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who infamously kicked the FBI off the case soon after he stepped into the position in 2012..

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