Timothy Sini

Suffolk County District Attorney

It’s been an interesting couple of years for the top law enforcement official in Suffolk County. After being appointed Suffolk’s youngest police commissioner — he was 36 at the time — to clean up the mess left by James Burke, the former police chief serving federal prison time for beating a suspect and covering it up, now Timothy Sini has replaced Tom Spota, the former district attorney facing federal charges of helping Burke cover up that beating. Like he did in the police department, Sini has gotten to work repairing the damage done by enacting ethics reforms. Since taking office, the former federal prosecutor has also worked to create a new gang bureau and repaired federal investigative partnerships. Although the new DA hasn’t been holding as many news conferences as he did when he was the top cop, it’s safe to say that this rising star is now too busy putting in office hours to spend as much time in front of the cameras. The question now becomes, what’s next for Sini? Will he be like other Das, who are often content spending the rest of their careers leading the prosecution of criminals until they retire? Or will he use his newfound prosecutorial powers as a stepping stone to run for higher office? As his old boss Preet Bharara would say, stay tuned.