Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota through the years

Thomas Spota, chief of the Major Offense Bureau (D.A.'s office), talks after arraignment of Thomas Robertson at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota is shown at his Hauppauge office on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013.

James McCready hugs his attorney Thomas Spota after the judge ruled him a free man on May 25, 1993.

Prosecutor Thomas Spota, left, and District Attorney Patrick Henry at Riverhead Criminal Court before the sentencing in the Pius murder trial on June 9, 1981.

Thomas Spota is sworn in by Hon. Patrick Henry as Justice of the Supreme Court while Spota's wife, Mary Ellen, holds the Bible. Jan. 3, 2002.

Suffolk County Democratic chairman Rick Schaffer, left, congratulates Thomas Spota at the Suffolk County Republican Convention after Spota received the Republican party's nomination for reelection as district attorney on May 19, 2005.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota holds up a bag of heroin during a news conference at his office in Hauppauge on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, as he points to the white area, which is laced with Fentanyl. Spota announced the arrests of more than two dozen alleged suspects accused of dealing the deadly heroin.

During a press conference at Riverhead Criminal Court on Nov. 20, 2008, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota holds up a photo of a murder weapon used in the fatal attack on Marcelo Lucero.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota announces that three additional victims were found at Gilgo Beach at a news conference in Yaphank Police headquarters on Jan. 24, 2011.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy praises the efforts of District Attorney Thomas Spota and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, and their respective departments, after the results of a five-month operation targeting illegal narcotic distribution in Suffolk were announced.

During a news conference in Hauppauge on Thursday morning, June 4, 2009, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota shows drug paraphernalia that was removed from a convenience store in Shirley. Town of Brookhaven supervisor Mark Lesko, left, looks on.

Suffolk County District Thomas Spota holds an assault weapon during a news conference at his Hauppauge office on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, as he announced the arrests of Terry L. Byrd, of Wyandanch, and Frederick Miller, of Lake Grove, for possession of illegal guns.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, second from right, and District Attorney Thomas Spota at a news conference at Suffolk Police Headquarters announce the results of a two-year investigation into narcotics and marijuana trafficking across Suffolk County. Drugs, weapons and other proceeds were on display, June 26, 2008.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, flanked by Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer and Megan's Law advocate Laura Ahearn, announces that missing teenager Stephanie Caruso, 16, of Hampton Bays had been found in Texas, and was on her way home to New York. Caruso had gone missing from her home and, police said, after being picked up by a convicted sex offender, it was announced at Spota's office on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota at his office on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2017, showing the gear ex-felon Henry Terry, 31, used to allegedly impersonate a police officer.

At a news conference at the Suffolk County courthouse's law library in Riverhead on July 19, 2016, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota shows where drugs were hidden in a seized fish tank obtained during a drug bust. Spota announced arrests of 14 people after the major drug bust on the East End.

Some of the money seized from a recycling scheme involving Long Island bottle shops, on display at a news conference at the Suffolk County district attorney's office, held by District Attorney Thomas Spota, right, and Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo on Aug. 25, 2009.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota addresses the media during a news conference in front of St. Charles Cemetery, as Vincent Longo, far left, looks on along with others in East Farmingdale on Aug. 31, 2010. Longo is the grandson of Mattia Filippazzo, who was laid to rest in a mausoleum at the cemetery and whose remains were reported stolen in 2010.

Suffolk County Police Department Sgt. Jeff Walker, left, receives recognition from Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on March 12, 2009 at the annual Mothers Against Drunk Drivers Long Island's Law Enforcement Recognition Luncheon at Chateau La Mer in Lindenhurst. Walker was awarded for making three DWI arrests on New Year's Eve.

Assistant District Attorney Janet Albertson and Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota come to address the media after the conviction of Daniel Pelosi on second-degree murder charges. Albertson and Spota are seen at the Riverhead Criminal Court on Monday, Dec. 13, 2004 after Pelosi, of Manorville, was convicted in the October 2001 death of Manhattan financier Theodore Ammon at Ammon's East Hampton beach home.

Long Island's district attorneys, Suffolk's Thomas Spota, and Nassau's Kathleen Rice, share a stage for the first time as they discuss fraud, white collar crime and DWI laws, among other things, during a Hauppauge Industrial Association breakfast meeting on June 27, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency.

Thomas Spota at his ceremonial swearing-in as Suffolk County District Attorney on Jan. 3,2002.

Rep. Steve Israel and Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota announce legislation to extend the Brady Bill to include violent juvenile offenders at Central Islip court on June 22, 2010.

On Aug. 11, 2009, District attorney Thomas Spota points to a graphic indicating the places and numbers of fraudulent mortgages in a case where five people, including a former Suffolk County legislator, were charged. The defendants allegedly operated a $50 million mortgage-fraud scheme involving several dozen properties in the Hamptons over the past seven years.

On Aug. 9, 2006, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota announces the arrests of several suspects accused of illegally transporting and selling cigarettes.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on Oct. 9, 2007, holds "Situation XXIV," a painting by Jean Dubuffet and stands behind a Jean Metzinger painting, allegedly among the goods stolen from an East End mansion.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, left, and Det. Sgt. John Cowie of the police computer crimes unit on July 29, 2003, announce indictments against 12 people who were charged with numerous counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota discusses the findings of a special grand jury investigation of the 2015 fatal crash in Cutchogue that resulted in the deaths of four Smithtown women, and serious injuries to four others. The news conference was held at the Riverhead office of Thomas Spota on Dec. 20, 2016.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota looks on as Division Chief of Investigation Christopher McPartland talks about the theft of a 380-foot outfield marker during a press conference at the Suffolk County district attorney's office in Hauppauge on May 12, 2011, where District Attorney Thomas Spota announced the arrest of a Massachusetts resident, who was charged with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property for a scam to sell Red Sox equipment, including jerseys, bags, warmup jackets, etc.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota holds up a kilo of cocaine seized in a major drug bust during a news conference at the fifth-floor library in the Suffolk County Criminal Courthouse on July 31, 2012.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota addresses the media at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday, July 23, 2015, where Chad Morizsan, 35, of Northport, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for striking two police officers with a stolen vehicle in September 2014.

Suffolk County Police Chief of Department James Burke, left, and Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota appear at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday, July 23, 2015, for the sentencing of Chad Morizsan, 35, of Northport. Morizsan was sentenced to 25 years in prison for striking two police officers with a stolen vehicle in September 2014.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota talks about cracking down on illegal items in pawnshops, during a news conference at the Dennison building in Hauppauge on Jan. 16, 2015.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota reacts during a news conference at his Hauppauge office after Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, citing an onging "culture of corruption," called for Spota to step down on Thursday, May 12, 2016.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota at his Hauppauge office on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013.

Christopher McPartland, left, and ex-Suffolk DA Thomas Spota, to his right, leave court June 27, 2019 with lawyers.

Thomas Spota at the district attorney's office in Riverhead on March 23, 1982.