“When a sitting District Attorney and the Chief of the Government Corruption Bureau attempt to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation, it is nothing short of an attack on the justice system itself, and it will not be tolerated by the Justice Department. As prosecutors, the defendants were obligated to support the law they enforce, but the criminal actions taken by these men made a mockery of that obligation. Thankfully, the rule of law has prevailed, and the defendants now must face the consequences of their actions, just like any other defendant who has broken the law,” stated United States Attorney Richard Donoghue.
The scandal that brought down Spota and his confederates happened after a junkie named Chris Loeb burglarized a car belonging to former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke. As it turned out, a duffel-bag that Loeb had stolen contained sex toys, pornographic material, and a bottle of Viagra. Burke personally raided Loeb's home with three of his 'Inner Circle'. He recovered the bag and took Loeb to the precinct where he was brutally beaten while shackled. A witness testified that Burke threatened to inject Loeb with a lethal dose of Heroin if he told.
But Loeb did tell; and the subsequent investigation revealed that Spota covered up for that and many other of Burke's crimes. It was never proven at trial, but is widely believed by many that Spota and his henchmen were probably getting 'protection' money from local prostitution and pornography enterprises. At any rate, Spota went to great lengths to obstruct justice; intimidating witnesses in particular. At Spota's trial, one testified that Spota regularly pressured him to keep the Intel detectives quiet by repeatedly inquiring – “Are they holding up?” “Are they towing the line?” – conveying the message that they should refuse to cooperate with the federal investigation and, if necessary, lie to protect Burke.
Spota first gained national attention when he and his friend, Senator Chuck Schumer, drummed up a Child Pornography Scare in 2003 to attempt to sabotage some new Internet technology on file-sharing. Hollywood---which contributes heavily to Schumer---was threatened financially by the then-new technology. He then jumped in with other activist prosecutors to ferret out alleged abuse within the Catholic Church. The Catholic League issued this statement upon Spota's conviction:
"In the early 2000s, following revelations of clergy sexual abuse by the Boston Globe, Spota impaneled a Long Island grand jury to probe the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He knew full well he could not prosecute anyone because of the statute of limitations, but that didn’t matter. He never cross examined witnesses and refused to allow officials from the diocese to testify. Worse, he leaked a copy of the grand jury report to Newsday before the diocese had a chance to respond...The Catholic League clashed with Spota on many occasions. While he was not imprisoned for his misdeeds against the Catholic Church, his flawed character—which we observed many times—ultimately caught up with him in a criminal way."
As far as we're Spota, Burke, and the others convicted with them are just another pack of Swamp Creatures headed down the drain. It's always amazing when peeling back the sanctimonious and self-righteous veneer of Political Correctness to find what lurks behind the curtain...and note what the Democrats really stand for.
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