Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, center, in 2017, leaving the Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, New York. AP photo: John Dunn

A Long Island federal jury Tuesday found former Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota and his former anti-corruption unit chief Christopher McPartland guilty of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and other offenses Tuesday.

Jurors deliberated for nearly a full day before returning the verdict.

Spota's defense attorney was Alan Vinegrad of Covington & Burling. McPartland's lawyer was Larry Krantz of Krantz & Berman.

Prosecutors spent about three weeks presenting evidence on Spota and McPartland's involvement with Suffolk County's disgraced former police chief Jimmy Burke, who spent three years in prison after assaulting a burglary suspect and attempting to cover it up.

Spota, 78, and McPartland, 54, were deeply involved in that cover-up and played a big role in an overall culture of paranoia and corruption among Suffolk County law enforcement officials, prosecutors argued.

Vinegrad and Krantz argued that the government's key witness, a former Suffolk County police official who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, was unreliable because of his history of alcoholism, infidelity and mental health issues.

There was little evidence in writing in the case, and defense lawyers argued that phone records showing the timing and frequency of the men's conversations with Burke and other officials should not serve as proof of a crime.

Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue was scheduled to make a statement shortly after noon Tuesday, a press spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office said after the verdict was read.

Christopher Loeb, the man assaulted after his 2013 burglary arrest, attended the trial and described himself as ecstatic at the verdict, though he said he isn't the only victim.

"It's a weight off my shoulders, it's like this dark cloud has been lifted," Loeb told reporters for Newsday and other news outlets. "He deserves everything he got … he deserves much more."

Krantz said he and his colleagues will keep fighting for McPartland, who maintains his innocence.

"We are deeply disappointed by the verdict, which we believe was not supported by the credible evidence at trial," he said in a statement.

Vinegrad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Donoghue described Spota and McPartland's behavior as "an attack on the justice system itself."

"As prosecutors, the defendants were obligated to support the law they enforce, but the criminal actions taken by these men made a mockery of that obligation," Donoghue said in a statement.

In a statement, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the verdict confirms that Spota and McPartland were "running a criminal enterprise out of the District Attorney's office."

"At the time I called for his resignation (in 2016), Tom Spota's power was at its peak and their criminal enterprise was in full swing," Bellone said. "This culture of corruption has had a real and profound impact. They ruined lives and destroyed careers."

The Suffolk County Attorney is reviewing how to recover salary and benefits from Spota and McPartland, Bellone said.

Read more:

Key Witness in Ex-Suffolk DA Corruption Trial Testifies to 'Culture of Paranoia,' Retaliation

Trial of Ex-Suffolk County DA Begins With Questions About Mental Well-Being of Key Witness