Suffolk County DA launches probe into whether Bellone officials improperly destroyed records

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is investigating allegations that members of the Bellone administration “improperly destroyed” and removed county data as they were leaving office last year.

District Attorney Ray Tierney's office, in a statement to Newsday on Monday, said it has “received allegations that, during the transition of county administrations, members of the outgoing Bellone administration improperly destroyed and removed data belonging to Suffolk County.”

The statement, from the county prosecutor's chief assistant, Allen L. Bode, noted the district attorney's office, as a general practice, “does not confirm the existence of criminal investigations,” but noted an exception to the protocol “would be where it is determined that the public’s awareness would assist the investigation or mitigate harm from any alleged criminality.”

The district attorney “has been asked to investigate whether such duplication or destruction was intentional or inadvertent and whether criminal charges under computer tampering or trespass laws are appropriate,” the statement said. 

Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. said several county employees told him emails were destroyed and county equipment was deactivated.

“It is a misuse of public property,” said Kennedy, a Republican.  

Tierney's office did not elaborate on specific types of information allegedly destroyed or duplicated, or the government departments involved.

Former County Executive Steve Bellone, a Democrat, and ex-Chief Deputy County Executive Lisa Black did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Monday. Peter Scully, a deputy county executive under Bellone, declined to comment.

Kennedy has clashed with Bellone in the past. Earlier this month, Kennedy said his office had found the county could have avoided $13.8 million in spending on unnecessary purchases. Bellone called the comptroller's findings “factually inaccurate.”

The two also butted heads over the cause of September 2022 cyberattack that crippled the county’s computer system for months. 

Former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who preceded Bellone, said the notion of leaving files and other information behind was considered a “common courtesy,” when he took and left office.

“You want to make sure the incoming administration has the tools and information they need to carry on the county’s business,” he said. “There are government materials that have to remain for the succeeding administration just so they can perform properly.”

And while Levy, a lawyer, declined to opine on the legality of alleged document destruction, he suggested there’s a fine line between copying files and removing them.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with outgoing folks copying stuff for reference later on,” Levy said. “That’s different from totally removing information that would normally be available for the new administration. It’s a question of what’s being taken and what’s left behind.”

The district attorney's statement also came with a warning: 

“Anyone in possession of county data is advised to take no further action to destroy or duplicate such data as this may subject them to additional charges,” the statement read. “Furthermore, given the obvious public interest in rapid recovery of this data, the District Attorney will offer an amnesty period for anyone who is in inadvertent possession of county data who wishes to make arrangements for its return.”

Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), who chaired a special committee on the 2022 cyberattack on Suffolk government, pledged to work with the district attorney's office “in any way we can to make sure this is resolved.” The committee relied on the production of thousands of pages of documents as part of its ongoing investigation of the attack. 

Piccirillo authored a “transition of power law” in the Suffolk Legislature to “make sure the custodian of the records kept them in proper order for the next administration coming into office. I really hope the people's paperwork wasn't destroyed by the former administration,” he added.

With Vera Chinese