Grand jury probing Suffolk police conduct focuses on Smithtown precinct, home of Smithtown man tied to Burke case

The thrust of a new federal grand jury investigating the conduct of Suffolk police is focusing on two scenes -- a police precinct in Smithtown and the house of a Smithtown man who stole a duffel bag from former Suffolk County Chief of Department James Burke, sources said.

The probe is also seeking to determine whether any law enforcement official -- including Burke -- was observed striking Christopher Loeb, an admitted heroin addict who has accused Burke and police officers of violating his civil rights, and whether there was a subsequent cover-up of any possible assault, according to the sources.

It is a violation of a person's civil rights for a law enforcement officer to strike a person unnecessarily; it is an obstruction of justice to engage in a cover-up of such activity. Both are felonies.

The new grand jury at the federal courthouse in Central Islip had revived several months ago a federal investigation that had been dormant since the beginning of 2014. Both grand jury investigations were triggered by the 2012 theft of Burke's duffel bag. Newsday had reported the existence of the new grand jury probe last month.

Since those same questions were asked during the initial investigation without any charges being brought, it is believed that federal investigators have acquired new evidence, the sources said.

That evidence might include wiretapped information or several of the law enforcement officers involved changing their accounts of what occurred or both, the sources said.

Several of the sources have said that a number of the law enforcement officers involved have changed their accounts and are now cooperating with investigators.

Attention is focused on at least three officers in the last few months. Attorneys for the three have declined to comment when contacted by Newsday.

Investigators and federal prosecutors working for the grand jury have focused their questioning of the law enforcement officials almost solely on two things: what occurred both at Loeb's house and the precinct, and what were the contents of Burke's duffel bag, according to the sources.

Contents of duffel bag

The thrust of the duffel bag question was whether it contained any type of pornography, child or otherwise, the sources said. Possession of child pornography would be a crime.

Authorities said the duffel contained a department gun belt, ammunition, handcuffs, a whistle and a box of cigars.

An attorney for Loeb, 29, has said that her client said the duffel contained sex toys and DVDs of "nasty porn." The attorney, Amy Marion of Garden City, said that was the motivation behind Burke's going to the scene to recover the duffel and why he was enraged enough to later beat her client in the precinct.

But several sources said they were unaware of any child pornography in the duffel bag, whatever Loeb may have said.

In any event, how long the grand jury will be sitting is still unclear, several of the sources said. Several of those subpoenaed have now been told their testimony is no longer necessary, the sources said. But others may still be called, the sources said.

Loeb pleaded guilty to the 2012 theft of the duffel bag from a department SUV parked in front of then-Chief of Department Burke's St. James home. Loeb has said he was beaten by Suffolk police officers and then by Burke himself after the bag was recovered at Loeb's Smithtown home.

Loeb has filed a federal lawsuit against the county, Burke and other police officers for violating his civil rights.

The previous lapsed grand jury investigation had involved FBI agents conducting interviews of Suffolk law enforcement officials who were present both at Loeb's home when the bag was recovered and at the Fourth Precinct where Loeb claimed he was beaten both by officers and by Burke himself.

The current investigation involves questioning of Suffolk County police, detectives and probation officers who were at both scenes by a little-known group of federal criminal investigators directly attached to and reporting to the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York, the sources said.

Each U.S. attorney has a handful of criminal investigators, unaffiliated with any other law enforcement agency, who are used for special, sensitive assignments.

Burke's attorney, Joseph Conway of Mineola, declined to comment Wednesday on the case or any grand jury proceedings, as did Nellin McIntosh, a spokeswoman for the Eastern District.

Conway has previously said his client is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Burke resigned as chief of the Suffolk department, after a more than 30-year career, at the end of October.

Conway said at the time that the resignation was unrelated to the grand jury investigation but was for personal and financial reasons.

County Executive Steve Bellone said in late October that he heard about the new federal investigation and he "didn't want to put the department through another federal investigation."

Interactions with Burke

Loeb, who was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the theft of the duffel bag, has said he was initially beaten by officers at his home and then later both by other officers and Burke at the precinct.

Loeb said that at the precinct Burke walked into the room where he was being held and ordered the other officers to leave.

Burke then grabbed his face and squeezed it, saying, "Do you want to steal from me? Do you want to steal from me?" and then punched him on the top of the head, Loeb said.

Two officers then broke up the situation, coming into the room, and pleaded with Burke to leave, saying, "Boss, leave it alone. Leave it alone," Loeb said.

Conway has said his client never harmed Loeb.

A 1995 internal affairs investigation resulted in admonishing Burke for twice losing his service weapon and carrying on a sexual relationship with "a felon known to be actively involved in criminal conduct including the possession and sale of illegal drugs, prostitution and larceny."

When Burke was 13 years old, he testified for the prosecution at one of Long Island's most notorious murder cases -- the suffocation killing of 13-year-old John Pius.

It was there that he first met a young prosecutor, Thomas Spota, who eventually became district attorney and named Burke in 2002 to lead that office's detective squad -- a post he held for 10 years.

After Burke resigned, Spota said in a statement: "I'm saddened by it . . . he's a great friend and a terrific chief of the department, and everyone I've spoken to in the department is saddened by his resignation."

By Robert E. Kessler

Robert.Kessler@newsday.com

Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.