CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A former Long Island prosecutor convicted of obstructing justice after a prisoner was beaten has begun serving a five-year federal prison sentence. Newsday reports that former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and former aide Christopher McPartland surrendered at separate federal prisons. Spota and McPartland were convicted in December 2019 on counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and civil rights violations. They were accused of helping cover up the 2012 police beating of a prisoner suspected of stealing sex toys and other items from a police chief’s vehicle. The resulting scandal eventually engulfed the county’s law enforcement power structure.
Photo: FILE – Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota leaves the court in Central Islip, N.Y. Oct. 25, 2017. The former prosecutor Long Island prosecutor, convicted on corruption charges, began serving a five-year prison sentence Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, after surrendering to federal authorities. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
