Jury selection in the case was held last week, paving the way for opening arguments to kick off at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said Montefusco was on duty when he used his radio to ward off other cops during a 1999 burglary of a Bay Shore King Kullen - one of three heists involving the former 3rd Precinct patrolman.

Montefusco, arrested in 2004, allegedly also used his radio to alert thieves that cops were en route during break-ins at a Jiffy Lube in St. James and at Parsnips, a restaurant and bar in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Spota said detectives learned that Montefusco had intended to share in the booty taken in the heists.

"We have evidence Mr. Montefusco used the powers entrusted to him as a police officer to enable others to commit crimes," Spota said in a statement.

Montefusco, 37, is a decorated Air Force Gulf War veteran and life-long Suffolk resident who retired from Suffolk police early in 2004.

A few months later, he was arrested.

"He came into this courtroom with an excellent reputation," Montefusco's attorney, Paul Gianelli, said at the ex-cop's 2004 arraignment.

"When this case is finished, he will walk out with that reputation intact," Gianelli said.