Spota, charged in beat-by-cop coverup, quits

SUFFOLK COUNTY District Attorney Thomas Spota is stepping down amid federal charges he covered up an assault by a disgraced police chief.

Spota (photo) made the announcement a day after he was indicted for allegedly intimidating witnesses in a federal civil rights investigation into ex-Suffolk County top cop James Burke.

“I will be leaving my post as district attorney at the earliest opportunity after the resolution of normal administrative matters relating to my retirement,” Spota said in a statement. “The governor will be notified of my decision today.”

The 76-year-old Spota, who held the role for 16 years, was not seeking reelection. It’s unclear how long it will take Spota to wrap up his “normal administrative matters.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone called on him to leave immediately.

“If you have a shred of decency, if you care at all about the people you swore an oath to represent then you must resign this office immediately,” Bellone said. “The person holding that office must be a person of the highest integrity, somebody beyond reproach,” Bellone said, and “not someone who is under federal indictment for corruption.”

Federal prosecutors say the lawman abus ed his power and shamed his office by trying to sweep under the rug Burke’s alleged beatdown of a handcuffed suspect at a Smithtown police stationhouse in 2012. The beating victim, Christopher Loeb, was attacked after breaking into Burke’s police-issued SUV — and swiping the chief’s sex toys, a porn video, a gun belt, cigars and a humidor. Prosecutors say Spota and Christopher McPartland, 51, the chief of his anti-corruption bureau, engaged in a coordinated campaign to quash the case by pressuring witnesses from cooperating with the feds. Both were released on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty Wednesday.

Spota’s lawyer, Alan Vinegrad, said outside of court that his client “committed no crime” and “looks forward to vindicating himself in court.”

Burke eventually pleaded guilty to the assault. He was sentenced to nearly four years behind bars for violating Loeb’s civil rights.

The victim’s lawyer, Bruce Barket, offered muted support for Spota’s decision. “Obviously, it’s the right thing to do,” Barket said. “It’s a sad, unfortunate end to a career.”

Elected in 2002, Spota vowed to crack down on municipal corruption. In his statement, he said chief assistant district attorney Emily Constant will take over his role.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. told the Daily News the developments were “very sad.”