By Brandon Cruz
A disgraced Long Island ex-prosecutor is using his own experiences in the big house to peddle consultancy services to white-collar criminals headed to federal prison.
Christopher McPartland, once Suffolk County’s top corruption watchdog — ironically sentenced to five years in federal prison on corruption charges for covering up a police chief’s beating of a prison inmate — is now a high-priced consultant for mostly affluent convicts through his self-founded firm, McPartland Federal Prison Strategies, according to his LinkedIn and Newsday.
“I was a prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in New York for 26 years,” McPartland’s LinkedIn bio reads, boasting his accomplishments such as prosecuting organized crime cases.
“I was also convicted of Obstruction of Justice and sentenced to 5 years in federal prison — I became fully familiar with the workings of the Federal Bureau of Prisons from first hand exposure,” his bio continued.
McPartland, 58, offers clients a crash-course that goes over everything from how to get jobs and staying hygienic within jail walls to “prison politics,” “how to interact with inmates,” and even lessons on securing early releases.
“We help educate you on life in prison, including healthcare issues, hygiene, safety, dealing with inmates and staff, commissary, chow hall and TV room practices, work assignments — and many other aspects of how to conduct yourself in prison,” McPartland’s website reads.
Attorney Randy Zelin, who often uses McPartland’s services for his convicted white-collar clients to prepare for prison, defended the ex-prosecutor’s new post-conviction career path and called it a necessary service that couldn’t be run by a better candidate.
“They’re worried — they want to be prepared going into their sentence,” Zelin said about his convicted clients.
“They don’t know what it’s going to be like or what is going to happen in the showers, in the cafeteria, or how to maneuver throughout the system — and books don’t teach you that.”
Zelin called McPartland’s pricing “very fair” compared to competing firms that charge anywhere from $800 an hour to upwards of $10,000 to $15,000.
The disbarred attorney’s firm doesn’t publicly disclose their fees, instead requiring a private consultation with prospective clients to determine cost, according to the website.
Once the top deputy to the now-also-disgraced ex-Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota, McPartland helped Spota cover-up the brutal beating of a handcuffed inmate by the county’s former scandal-plagued police chief, James Burke, in 2012.
The pair were both convicted in 2019 of pressuring witnesses, interfering with the investigation, and helping hide Burke’s assault on the prisoner — which included threatening to give the helpless victim a lethal dose of heroin while handcuffed.
After serving two years of his five-year sentence, McPartland was released from a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, in 2023 and started working in Virginia with The Justice Advocacy Group, another prison consulting firm — before starting his own firm in October of last year, his LinkedIn and company website showed.
“Not only does [McPartland] deserve a second chance, he should be able to show the world that he can provide an opportunity that’s worthwhile and is a benefit to society,” Zelin told The Post.
