Former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke to be Transferred to Pennsylvania Prison: Report

Former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke who was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for assault and obstruction of justice will be transferred to a Pennsylvania prison, according to a report in Newsday.

Burke, 52, of St. James, was charged with assaulting Smithtown resident Christopher Loeb who was arrested for stealing a duffel bags with items from Burke's SCPD-issued SUV as well as other police vehicle in 2012, while he was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt fastened to the floor at the Fourth Precinct.

He requested to serve his time at the federal prison in Otisville, New York to be as close as possible to his mother who has cancer, but instead will be transferred to a low-security prison in Allenwood, Newsday reports.

The prison is 225 miles away from the St. James home Burke shared with his mother.

“It’s a reasonable distance,” Burke’s attorney, John Meringolo, told Newsday.

Last month, a court document recently revealed that several Suffolk detectives and officers plead guilty to covering up an the assault. However no arrests have been made.