Investigating violations of federal law by public officials at the federal, state, and local levels of government.
Overseeing the nationwide investigation of allegations of fraud related to federal government procurement, contracts, and federally funded programs.
Combating the threat of public corruption along the nation’s borders & points of entry to decrease the vulnerability to drug & weapons, smuggling, espionage, and terrorism.
Public Corruption cases:
DA Thomas J. Spota and Corruption Bureau Chief Christopher McPartland Each Sentenced
Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and Christopher McPartland, the former Chief of Investigations and Chief of the Government Corruption Bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (SCDAO), were each sentenced today by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack, to five years in prison. Additionally, Spota was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.
The sentences stem from the defendants’ December 17, 2019 convictions, following a six-week federal jury trial, on all four counts of the Indictment; specifically, of conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an official proceeding,
witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and being accessories after-the-fact to former Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) Chief of Department James Burke’s deprivation of a prisoner’s civil rights.
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Former Suffolk County Police Chief Pleads Guilty To Civil Rights Violation And Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice
James Burke Admits to Assaulting Handcuffed Suspect in December 2012 and Orchestrating an Extensive Cover-up to Obstruct the Federal Civil Rights Investigation
At the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, James Burke, the former Chief of Department for the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The civil
rights violation related to Burke’s assault of a Smithtown man who had been arrested for breaking into Burke’s SCPD-issued vehicle and stealing his property on December 14, 2012. Following that assault, over almost three years, Burke
and other Suffolk County law enforcement authorities took actions to obstruct the federal civil rights investigation into the assault. Burke was arrested and arraigned on December 9, 2015, and he has been in federal custody since that
date.
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Five Employees of Juvenile Detention Center Charged With Smuggling Contraband in Exchange for Bribes
Five criminal complaints were unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging current New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) employees Da’Vante Bolton, Roger Francis, Christopher Craig and Nigel King, and former ACS employee Octavia Napier, with conspiracy to commit Travel Act bribery. All five defendants were Youth Development Specialists at the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brownsville, Brooklyn (Crossroads). All five were arrested this morning, and their initial appearances are scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo. Read More
City Official Sentenced for Federal Conspiracy
A former senior policy advisor to an Austin city official was sentenced in federal court to three years of probation and ordered to pay $21,375 in restitution for conspiring to misapply federal funds and to falsify records
in an investigation within the jurisdiction of an agency of the United States.
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Alabama Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced for Federal Civil Rights Offense of Excessive Force
Former Elmore County, Alabama, Sheriff’s Deputy Blake Hicks, 33, was sentenced today to 29 months in prison and three years of supervised release for depriving an arrestee of his civil rights under color of law. According to
documents and statements made in court, Hicks willfully used unreasonable force against an arrestee. Specifically, without legal justification, Hicks punched and kicked the arrestee in or around the head while the arrestee
was handcuffed and incapacitated on the ground. The arrestee suffered a broken cheekbone, concussion and lacerations from Hicks’ assault.
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Police Officer Charged in Insurance Fraud & Bribery Schemes
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that CHRISTIAN CONRAD CLAUS, age 55, has been indicted on one count of Wire Fraud, one count of Mail Fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit those crimes, one count of Use of a
Facility in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit that crime, and one count of Making a False Statement to a Federal Agent.
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Newton County Board of Commissioners Chairman and Real Estate Broker Charged with Money Laundering
Marcello Banes, Chairman of the Newton County Board of Commissioners, and Stephanie Lindsey, a real estate broker and attorney, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to launder money obtained from wire fraud
and honest services wire fraud.
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