Gov. Cuomo Speaks On Suffolk County Police Corruption Probe
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo is offering his first comments on the investigation into possible corruption within Suffolk County's law enforcement.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone recently accused Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota of protecting friends and punishing enemies, WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs reported. Bellone claims Spota's office failed to prosecute possible criminal activity uncovered in wiretaps.
In May, Bellone walked into Spota's office in Hauppauge to hand deliver a letter asking for the district attorney's resignation.
Spota, who has been district attorney since 2002, vehemently denies any wrongdoing and said he is not resigning. The district attorney said Bellone has a "personal vendetta" against him because he investigated and prosecuted people close to the county executive, including a childhood friend.
Cuomo says there can be zero tolerance for corruption in law enforcement, but declined to elaborate further.
"It's a concerning allegation, but there's an investigation that's on-going," Cuomo said. "Let the investigation go through the facts, let the investigation conclude, and then you'll hear from me."
A federal grand jury has been probing the allegations, along with other accusations.
The investigation follows some explosive allegations that the DA tried to conceal the criminal past of former Chief of Department James Burke, blocked federal law enforcement from working on the Gilgo Beach serial murder case and failed to prosecute possible criminal activity uncovered in wiretaps of politically connected defense attorney Robert Macedonio.
Burke pleaded guilty earlier this year to assaulting a man who had stolen items from the police chief's vehicle.
