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Falls man sentenced in child porn case.

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A Niagara Falls man who was convicted of transporting child pornography was sentenced Monday to five years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny.

Zakary L. Siders, 25, was convicted in January of having received via the Internet more than 60 pornographic images of minors and having transported a hard-drive containing those images to Western New York.

The case against Siders was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative aimed at combatting child sexual exploitation and abuse that was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006.

Elma man arrested on child endangerment charges

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A 45-year-old Elma man was arrested by the State Police today on felony assault and child endangerment charges for allegedly forcing a 15-year-old girl to keep her hands in a bowl of bleach for a long time as a form of punishment. Gary R. Mathews was charged with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child and was remanded to the Erie County Holding center.

The girl was taken to Women & Children’s Hospital where she was treated for third-degree burns. The Erie County government’s Child Protection Services unit is working with state police on the case. Officials would not disclose the name of the victim nor her relationship to Mathews.

Pedestrian hit by car in critical condition

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An unidentified pedestrian was in critical condition after being struck by a car during the Monday morning rush hour in downtown Buffalo, authorities said.

The man, who had no identification on him, was crossing from the west to the east side of Oak Street, just south of Clinton Street, police said. About three-quarters of the way across, he hesitated, then started to run and was hit by a blue Pontiac headed south on Oak at about 7:30 a.m., according to police, who say they are trying to determine his identity.

The woman driving the car stopped and cooperated with police. Her name was not released, and no charges have been issued.

An investigation was continuing.

Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said the victim was taken to Erie County Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition late Monday.

“Investigators are attempting to determine if the pedestrian was crossing the street outside of the crosswalk,” DeGeorge said.

The victim slammed into the front windshield, and when the driver applied her brakes, the pedestrian vaulted forward and slid approximately 60 feet on the pavement, before coming to a stop in front of 101 Oak.

Little is known about the man, only that he is white and was dressed in casual clothing. Anyone who might have information about his identity was asked to call the Buffalo police tip line, 847-2255. Accident Investigation Unit Officers Martin Forero and Keith LaFalce are handling the probe.

Also Monday, authorities said a 1-year-old girl who suffered severe head injuries Saturday night in a two-vehicle crash remained in critical condition in Women & Children’s Hospital.

The girl was injured when the car her mother was driving, a 2006 Impala, collided with a Jeep Cherokee at about 9 p.m. at Leslie and East Ferry streets.

The name of the girl has not been released.

Accident Investigation Unit members were trying to determine the cause of the crash.



email: lmichel@buffnews.com

Suspect arrested in fake bomb incident

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A 36-year-old Kenmore man was taken into custody early this evening and charged with falsely reporting a bomb threat that forced traffic to be rerouted off Elmwood Avenue between Hertel and Great Arrow avenues from about 7 a.m. until about 8:20 a.m. today.

Titus Tallchief is being held in the Erie County Correctional Facility pending his arraignment Tuesday in Buffalo City Court on a felony charge of placing a fake bomb or hazardous substance that carries a possible four year prison term if convicted.

Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge reported that what appeared to be three sticks of dynamite left on the steps of a business on the 1800 block of Elmwood Avenue was called in about 7 a.m. but ultimately proved to be a fake bomb.

Traffic had to be rerouted as Buffalo police officers and members of the Erie County Bomb Squad and bomb-sniffing dogs carried out an investigation before determining that the bomb was not real, according to DeGeorge.

“It had been spotted at about 7 a.m. by a passerby,” DeGeorge said. “It had been left in a visible area right on the front steps of 1800 Elmwood.”Witnesses at the scene described it as three red tubes taped together with a component that was perhaps intended to look like an ignition unit.” No motive for the incident has been disclosed by authorities.

Two women die in North Tonawanda house fire

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NORTH TONAWANDA – An elderly woman and her middle-aged daughter were killed late Monday night during a fire that ripped through their 1½-story frame home, city police and fire officials reported.

Dorothy Burns, who was 83, was pulled from a front bedroom at 53 Third Ave., but efforts to resuscitate her on the front lawn were unsuccessful, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

North Tonawanda firefighters pulled her daughter, Kathy Watson, 62, out through a rear door in the home, after she was found near that exit. She died in DeGraff Memorial Hospital.

Firefighters responded to a 9:49 p.m. alarm, and the first responders arrived three minutes later.

“We had both victims out of the building fairly quickly, within two minutes,” North Tonawanda Fire Chief John C. Lapham said.

“It’s horrible,” he added. “I take it very personally when it happens in my own city. It doesn’t happen very often.”

Neighbors reported hearing what they thought was an explosion or series of explosions, but it remained unclear this morning whether that could have been either thunder or the sound of firefighters gaining entry to the burning house.

The cause remains under investigation, and North Tonawanda police detectives late this morning were attending autopsies for the two victims.

North Tonawanda firefighters, including 28 paid members and 40 volunteers, put out the blaze quickly. The fire was concentrated in the first-floor front living area, including a living room and dining room. An emergency team from the City of Tonawanda also rushed to the scene.

Fire officials listed an estimated $35,000 damage to the small cottage-like home.

Neighbors described the mother and daughter as private, even reclusive, and several neighbors didn’t even know their names.

Large marijuana growing operation found in Cambria

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CAMBRIA – A Ridge Road man was charged after the Niagara County Drug Task Force raided his home and found 48 marijuana plants in his unattached garage on Monday.

Eric V. Wisor, 51, was charged with felony second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful growing of cannabis by an unlicensed person. He was arraigned in the Town of Cambria by Town Justice Amel S. Jowdy Jr. and released on his own recognizance. A return court date was set for May 8.

Niagara County Drug Task Force investigators said they obtained a search warrant after they received information about a large growing operation in Wisor’s garage at 2958 Ridge Road. Investigators assisted by the Niagara County Emergency Response Team raided the house just before 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Lovejoy fire leaves family of 7 homeless

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A family of seven was left homeless early this morning in a two-alarm blaze in Lovejoy.

Firefighters responded at 4:15 a.m. to 141 Benzinger St. and found the 1½-story wood frame home fully engulfed in flames, fire officials said.

No one was injured, but the two adults and five children are being assisted by the Red Cross.

The blaze also caused damage to School 43 at 161 Benzinger, knocking out windows and causing $1,000 in damages. The school was closed to students today, but staff members were told to report to West Hertel Academy.

A two-story home at 139 Benzinger sustained about $15,000 in exposure damage.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com

Another conviction for the often arrested ‘Hugging Bandit’

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Myra Castleberry, 54, who has gained international attention over the years as Buffalo’s “Hugging Bandit,” added to her string of criminal convictions today.

Castleberry pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny, her seventh felony conviction. She also has 44 previous misdemeanor convictions.

In court, following her 60th arrest, Castleberry admitted stealing a wallet from a 35-year-old man’s pants pocket on July 22, while he negotiated a cab fare near Jim’s Steakout on Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue.

Her prior crimes include hugging tipsy men while picking their pockets.

The Genesee-Moselle neighborhood woman entered her plea before Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk, who committed to a prison sentence of 18 months to three years.

The fourth-degree grand larceny charge carries a maximum prison sentence of up to four years.

Laura El-Bahtity, a Legal Aid Bureau lawyer representing Castleberry, declined to comment following the court hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Jaharr S. Pridgen asked that Castleberry be remanded pending her scheduled June 19 sentencing, and the judge agreed to do so.

At Castleberry’s arraignment in December, El-Bahtity said the prosecution’s case relied on an identification by a witness who was first shown a single photograph. The defense lawyer called it “a case solely based on identification.”

Ruling on a motion before the plea, the judge said he would allow the witness identification of Castleberry through a police photo array to be admitted as evidence in the case against her.

In past years, Castleberry has been arrested for distracting intoxicated men in the city’s entertainment district by fondling them and then stealing their wallets.

email: plakamp@buffnews.com

Man who crashed car into Amherst fire hall gets five years probation

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A North Buffalo man who crashed his car into an Amherst fire hall in August 2011 was placed on probation today for five years.

State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski also ordered Mark W. Detlef, 52, to perform 250 hours of community service.

Detlef, who admitted driving his 1999 Buick LeSabre into Main-Transit Fire Station 1 at 6777 Main St., has also signed a confession of judgment for $495,000.

The impact damaged the support structures for the building, glass bay doors, the rescue trucks and a pumper truck, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. Repairs cost more than $500,000.

Michalski ordered Detlef to pay a $250 deductible.

Detlef drove into the fire hall in an apparent suicide attempt just after midnight on Aug. 29, 2011.

He pleaded guilty in January to second-degree criminal mischief.

Detlef had faced a maximum prison sentence of up to seven years. The Probation Department, which prepared the presentencing report, recommended probation. Previously released under supervision, Detlef has been attending mental health counseling, as ordered by the judge.

Buffalo’s gun buyback will be held May 4

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The city will hold its annual gun buyback program earlier than usual in an effort to get guns off the street before crime increases as the weather gets warmer.

Mayor Byron W. Brown and Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda Tuesday reiterated their support for the event, scheduled for May 4, though critics have said that criminals won’t turn in guns they plan to use and that many recovered guns do not work.

“This program is just one small step in many, many strategies that the Police Department employs to get guns off the street,” Brown said.

During the buyback, officers do not ask questions of people turning in guns, and the weapons are not tracked to see if they were used in crimes or to see if they were obtained illegally. The event is not limited to city residents.

Buffalo will issue pre-paid credit cards for various types of weapons: $10 for non-working or antique guns; $50 for rifles and shotguns; $75 for handguns; and $100 for assault weapons such as Uzis and AK-47s.

Though the pre-paid credit cards are funded with money seized in criminal investigations, the city does pay police officers overtime to conduct the event, which is funded by taxpayers.

During the last buyback, in August, the city paid out $32,065 in pre-paid credit cards to people who returned guns, and also paid $15,407 in overtime costs, according to an audit prepared by the city comptroller’s office.

The last buyback yielded 745 guns, including 294 that did not work or were antiques, five assault weapons, 253 handguns and 193 rifles or shotguns.

The city has recovered 3,697 guns in the last five buybacks.

Though the law enforcement community debates whether gun buybacks are effective, some communities have just recently initiated them.

In Niagara County, the cities of Lockport and Niagara Falls held their first gun buybacks in February, which recovered more than 300 total guns.

The buyback will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at these locations:

• True Bethel Baptist Church, 907 E. Ferry St.

• St. John Baptist Church, 184 Goodell St.

• Church of the Good Shepherd, 96 Jewett Parkway.

• St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 213 Ontario St.

• St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 450 Abbott Road.

• Prince of Peace Christian Church, 190 Albany St.

• Primera United Methodist Church, 62 Virginia St.

Brown and Derenda were joined at police headquarters on Tuesday by a group of community activists and chaplains from the Buffalo Police Department in announcing this year’s buyback. Representatives from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which is publicizing the buyback on bus shelters, and Lamar Advertising Co., which has offered its billboards for the effort, also attended.



email: jterreri@buffnews.com

Feds uncover meth lab in Falls

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NIAGARA FALLS – A former Lockport man with a long criminal history is facing new charges after federal marshals found him cooking up a batch of methamphetamine in a Falls Street apartment.

The apartment building was cordoned off by Niagara Falls police after the home meth lab was found just after 3:30 p.m. Monday. State and U.S. Drug Enforcement HazMat agents finished cleaning up the scene Tuesday morning.

John F. Apolito Jr., 30, of Niagara Falls was charged with violating federal supervision release on weapons and drug related charges, according to Daniel E. Larish, U.S. Marshal supervisory deputy. He said the suspected drug lab was turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and further charges are pending.

Apolito is also a registered Level 2 sex offender, convicted this past May of second-degree sexual abuse for abusing a 13-year-old child, said Larish.

A warrant was issued after Apolito tested positive for opiates and then fled supervision in Niagara Falls. Larish said. A search led to a third floor apartment at 1936 Falls Street just after 3 p.m. Monday.

Deputies broke down a locked bedroom door and had to subdue Apolito to arrest him, police said. Inside his apartment, they found suspected drug paraphernalia for making methamphetamine, including soda bottles and cold capsules.

“The guy was making meth. He was a cooker,” Larish said. “When we entered I knew he had cooked that day. I could smell it. When the chemicals react they are harmful and caustic.”

The meth lab uncovered Monday is one of a string of meth labs found in the area, with more than a dozen uncovered in Western New York since early 2012, according to Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour. Four were found in Niagara Falls in the past four months, according to Niagara Falls Police Narcotics Lt. Theodore Weed.

“After years of holding it at bay this seems to be coming into our area and we are doing the best we can to combat it,” said Niagara Falls Police Superintendent Bryan L. DalPorto. “It’s cheap and easy. The stuff to manufacture it is stuff you can buy at Walmart. You can buy all the components legally, but [when they put it together] it is very dangerous and very hazardous.”

More than $3,000 worth of prepaid credit cards stolen from van in the Falls

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NIAGARA FALLS – A woman said her purse, which contained cash and a Walmart prepaid debit card valued at $2,500, was stolen from her minivan while she was working at the Olive Garden restaurant in the 1500 block of Military Road.

The victim told police she stopped to get gas after she left work just before 4 p.m. Monday and realized that her purse had been taken. She told police that she left the van unlocked by mistake.

The purse contained the Walmart prepaid debit card, valued at $2,500; an Olive Garden check card with $76 on it; and $740 in cash; as well as personal cards and papers.

The woman told police that she called to cancel the cards and was told that one of the cards had already been used at a gas station and at a car wash in Buffalo.

Former Seneca leader loses bid to regain benefits

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When Bergal Mitchell III was indicted two years ago, the Seneca Nation of Indians took immediate steps to punish the former tribal leader.

Mitchell went to court to reverse that punishment - the Nation took away annuity payments and business licenses - but a federal judge recently dismissed his civil suit against the Senecas.

Mitchell argued that he was denied due process by the Nation, but U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara ruled that the courts have no jurisdiction over his dispute with the Senecas.

Mitchell, a one-time tribal councilor and the former second-in-charge of the Seneca Gaming Corp., faces fraud and money laundering charges in connection with his alleged role in skimming $800,000 from a land deal that led to the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course in Lewiston.

The golf course - a $25 million development built on former woodlands along the Robert Moses Parkway - opened in June 2010.

Burglar who left diversion program is imprisoned

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LOCKPORT – William J. Kraft, a Niagara Falls burglar who was close to succeeding in a court-ordered drug treatment program before he left for Pennsylvania without telling his probation officer, was sentenced Tuesday to 1 1/2 to three years in state prison by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.

Kraft, 32, of Centre Avenue, was kicked out of the judicial diversion program of court-supervised drug treatment Feb. 13. He had been successful for 18 months before leaving the state, which he said was an attempt to avoid trouble in his neighborhood.

Farkas recommended Kraft for the state prison system’s boot camp-like “shock incarceration” program, which would lead to parole in six months. But if he’s not admitted, he will serve his time in a regular cellblock.

Kraft had pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary for breaking into a garage on Youngstown-Lockport Road in Porter Aug. 8, 2009.

Falls man, extradited from Vegas, denies drug charges

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LOCKPORT – A man who had moved from Niagara Falls to Las Vegas for a job opportunity was ordered held in lieu of $20,000 bail Tuesday, after he pleaded not guilty in Niagara County Court to a four-count drug indictment.

Jason R. Palmer, 27, of Niagara Street in the Falls, is charged with two counts each of third-degree criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance. He allegedly sold crack cocaine to a police informant Nov. 21 in Niagara Falls and Nov. 26 in Lewiston.

Palmer said in court that the arrest warrant was found during a background check for his job in Vegas, and he was extradited to New York to face the charges.

Nun admits stealing $130,000 from two parishes

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ALBION – A Catholic nun with a gambling addiction has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $130,000 from two rural Western New York parishes.

Sister Mary Anne Rapp, 68, pleaded guilty Monday in Orleans County Court to grand larceny. She admitted she stole the money from St. Mary’s Church in Holley and St. Mark’s Church in Kendall between March 2006 and April 2011.

Rapp faces up to six months in jail when she’s sentenced July 1. She’ll also be required to pay restitution that would be worked out at a later date.

She was arrested in November after discrepancies were found during an audit.

Investigators said she stole the money to feed a gambling addiction and spent the money at Western New York casinos.

Sex offender jailed for failing to report Internet info

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LOCKPORT – Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas ordered a one-year sentence in Niagara County Jail on Tuesday for a Level 1 sex offender who did not report his Internet identifications to the state, as required by law.

Anthony M. Fiorella, 23, whose last registered address was on Goundry Street in North Tonawanda, had said he intended to move to a friend’s home on Schuler Avenue in the City of Tonawanda if he hadn’t been jailed.

In 2011, he didn’t tell the state his Facebook and Twitter screen names, leading to a felony charge.

Two sisters allegedly stole from family to support drug habit

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LEWISTON – Two Lewiston sisters were accused of cashing in bank bonds and pawning family jewelry to support a prescription drug habit.

Carly G. McEvoy, 22, and Hannah E. McEvoy, 17, both of Creek Road Extension were both charged Sunday and arraigned in the Town of Lewiston on Tuesday night on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance and petit larceny after Niagara County sheriff’s deputies found the residue of the prescription narcotic Opana on a spoon in the women’s possession and needles which they admitted were for recreational drug use.

A parent contacted the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office after finding a large number of bonds were missing from the safe, needles and spoons with burn marks and residue on them, and pawn shop receipts for missing jewelry.

Both the girls’ mother and grandmother filed statements accusing them in the thefts, according to Niagara County sheriff’s deputies.

Dayton man, 45, pleads guilty to rape of girl, 12

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LITTLE VALLEY – Dwight E. Johnston Jr., 45, of Dayton, pleaded guilty Monday before Cattaraugus County Judge Ronald D. Ploetz to a third-degree rape charge for having sex with a 12-year-old girl 14 months ago.

Though initially arrested for having sex with the same girl from December 2011 through Feb. 7, 2012, the day of the incident for which he pleaded guilty, his plea satisfied his indictment. He faces sentencing June 17.

In other court action this week:

• Ploetz ordered Daniel J. Kolata, 43, of Olean, to serve a one- to three-year prison term on his driving while intoxicated conviction for an incident in the City of Olean on March 18, 2012. Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Pettit Rieman said Kolata had a blood alcohol reading that day of 0.16 percent, twice the state’s legal limit.

• Kurtis V. Dowdy, 23, of Salamanca, was ordered to serve a one-year local jail term on his attempted-assault and resisting arrest convictions for a fight with Salamanca police officers during a Nov. 20, 2011, incident.

• Jason A. Rivera, 35, of Olean, was placed on probation for five years on his attempted-burglary plea in a Dec. 24, 2011, Town of Portville incident.

• Michael D. Lyons Jr., 30, of Olean, was fined $1,000 and his driver’s license revoked for a year, as the judge placed him on probation for five years on his aggravated driving while intoxicated plea in a March 16, 2012, incident in the Town of Allegany.

• Kristin M. Kulczyk, 23, of Cattaraugus, was placed on probation for three years on her plea to criminal trespass and petit larceny in an Aug. 10, 2011, incident in the Town of Otto.

• Joshua D. Evans, 32, of Bolivar, faces sentencing Aug. 5 on his guilty plea to aggravated driving while intoxicated in the City of Olean Nov. 17. District Attorney Pettit Rieman said Evans’ blood-alcohol level that day was 0.24 percent, three times the state’s legal limit.

Facing sentencing June 17 on pleas this week are:

• Eric R. Smith, 23, of Olean, on an attempted-burglary plea in an Olean incident last Aug. 7.

• Jared T. Wrazen, 20, of Delevan, on an attempted-assault plea in a Town of Ashford incident last Dec. 1.

• Joseph W. Duhan, 23, of Salamanca, on a plea to criminal mischief in a Salamanca incident March 6. Prosecutors said Duhan also faces restitution for more than $1,500 in property damage.

• Gavin J. Howard, 27, of Great Valley, for a plea of aggravated driving while intoxicated in the Village of Ellicottville last July 24.

• Derick Allshouse, 20, of Olean, on a plea to criminal possession of stolen property in a March 17, 2012, incident in Olean.

• Jonathan E. Fey, 21, of Olean, on a plea to attempted burglary in a May 17, 2012, incident in the Town of Hinsdale.

Also this week, not-guilty pleas to indictments were entered by:

• Bradley A. Stuckey, 27, of Olean, to second-degree burglary in an Olean incident last Nov. 2.

• Joshua D. Bakowski, 18, of Delevan, to burglary and petit larceny charges in five incidents in Delevan between Sept. 17 and Oct. 16.

• Harlow T. Day, 27, of Allegany, for a driving while intoxicated arrest in the Town of Allegany Oct. 25.

• Christopher C. Reding, 26, of Randolph, on an aggravated drunken driving charge in the Town of Napoli Oct. 26.

• David A. Foster, 56, of Olean, for a felony drug incident Feb. 1 in Olean.

Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex crimes against girl

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A 50-year-old Buffalo man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for committing sex crimes against a girl over a four-year period, starting when she was 12 years old.

Everton Smith of Stockbridge Avenue had faced up to 29 years in prison after a two-week trial in March in which a jury convicted him of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and third-degree rape.

“This was a long trial for the jury to listen to the horrific facts of this case,” Erie County Judge Kenneth F. Case told Smith at the sentencing hearing. “How you could have destroyed her childhood and stole her innocence is astounding. It’s hard to even comprehend.”

During the trial, prosecutors Lynette Reda and Rosanne Johnson of the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said Smith took advantage of friction between the victim and her mother. He told her no one would believe her, and his threats also kept the girl from revealing what had happened, at least for a while, the prosecutors said.

Smith told the child that all he had to do was say something to her mother and the child would no longer be able to live in Buffalo, according to court testimony.

“He would hold it over my head,” the victim said in court.

The child was not born in Buffalo but moved here when she was in elementary school.

The girl described for jurors her encounters with Smith, which began in 2007.

Smith did not testify in his own defense, but jurors watched a videotaped police interrogation in which he denied harming the child.

Smith did not speak at his sentencing Tuesday, either, but he maintained his innocence through his defense lawyer.

“Mr. Smith has relayed to me that he respects the decision of the jury but he is looking forward to his appeal and maintains his innocence,” said defense lawyer Daniel J. DuBois.



email: plakamp@buffnews.com
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