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Buffalo man indicted in three more area burglaries

May 9, 2013, 8:27 pm
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A 33-year-old Niagara Street man already jailed and facing trial in three Western New York burglaries remained jailed Thursday after Senior Erie County Judge Michael L. D’Amico increased his bail from $250,000 to $275,000 during his arraignment on an additional three residential burglaries.

Bryan Colon, of the Shoreline Apartment complex, entered a not-guilty plea during his afternoon arraignment on the latest indictment. Prosecutor Michael P. Felicetta urged the judge to impose the additional bail because of Colon’s alleged criminal track record.

This week, an Erie County grand jury voted three additional second-degree burglary charges against Colon for residential burglaries in Akron, Amherst and Clarence Center last Aug. 7 and last Aug. 26. Colon faces hearings before Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio May 30 on his indictment in February on second-degree burglary charges for break-ins in Elma, Newstead and Grand Island last August and September.

Felicetta said that during the Sept. 7, 2012, burglary of a 79-year-old Elma man’s North David road home, neighbors of the elderly victim took down the license plate of the car Colon was driving and turned it over to Erie County sheriff’s detectives, who tracked down Colon a week later, only to have him escape by jumping out a back window when detectives went to his second-floor apartment. He was taken into custody last Oct. 3, attempting unsuccessfully to also flee his captors, Felicetta said.

The Newstead burglary was last Aug. 31, and the Grand island burglary was last Sept. 23, court officials said.

Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said Colon faces a sentence of up to 45 years in prison if he is convicted in the alleged crime spree,



email: mgryta@buffnews.com
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Two killed, four injured in QEW crash

May 10, 2013, 4:13 am
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ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – Two men were killed and four people were injured – two seriously – in a four-vehicle crash at about 4 a.m. Thursday on the Queen Elizabeth Way near St. Catharines, Ont.

The names of the victims were not released.

Two passenger cars collided in the Niagara-bound lanes and a truck struck one of them and went over the center median into the Toronto-bound lanes where a tanker truck hit the truck.

The Niagara-bound lanes of the QEW were closed until 2:30 p.m. while the Toronto-bound lanes remained closed into the evening as crews worked to repair a light standard damaged in the crash.
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Anti-gay marriage group given another day in court

May 10, 2013, 6:09 am
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A federal appeals court has given a national group opposed to gay marriage a second chance to challenge New York State’s campaign disclosure laws.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that found the National Organization for Marriage’s lawsuit against the State Board of Elections was premature.

The group, which is based in Washington D.C., sued the state in Buffalo federal court in 2010 and argued that some of New York’s campaign spending requirements, including the disclosure of donors’ names, would have a “chilling” effect on its free speech. The group wanted to buy advertisements for then- Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino.

The appeals court ruled that the case is not moot, despite the fact that the 2010 election is over, and ordered the case returned to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara for further action in federal district court.

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Man accused of striking boy, 6, on back with belt

May 10, 2013, 6:12 am
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A 35-year-old Lilac Street man was charged with assault, weapons possession and child endangerment after he allegedly struck a 6-year-old boy on the back with a heavy leather belt after the boy had an altercation with the suspect’s own child at Pembina and Boone streets at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Chad W. Gibson was accused of causing the young victim substantial pain and swelling and bruising of his back. The suspect was arrested an hour after the alleged street incident.

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Aggravated DWI charged after troopers stop weaving vehicle

May 10, 2013, 6:14 am
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A 21-year-old Amherst man was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated early Tuesday after he was observed weaving along Main Street in Clarence, state police reported.

Clayton J. Schmidt, of Huxley Drive, was stopped by Troopers Joseph Indelicato and Christopher Rodler at about 2:15 a.m. After roadside sobriety tests were administered, Schmidt was determined to be intoxicated and was arrested for drunken driving. Schmidt was taken to the Clarence zone headquarters, where his blood-alcohol level was found to be 0.20, more than twice the legal limit.

He was issued an appearance ticket for Town of Clarence court.

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Trespass and loitering charged at Canisius College

May 10, 2013, 6:16 am
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A 44-year-old Glenwood Avenue man who had reportedly been warned in the past to stay off Canisius College property was arrested there early Tuesday.

Derrick L. Cobb was charged with trespass and loitering after he was spotted in the school’s Loring Parking Lot at 2001 Main St. at about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday.

A check by police also found Cobb was the subject of a Buffalo City Court bench warrant in another case.
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Turley gets 15 to 30 years in jail for sex abuse

May 10, 2013, 9:27 am
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The stepdaughter and stepniece who were victims of child molester Paul S. Turley spoke about their ordeals Friday after a judge sentenced him to 15 to 30 years in prison.

“If you have a life similar to mine, tell the police,” said Jennifer Morrison, his stepdaughter.

Morrison explained how Turley's abuse in the 1990s in North Tonawanda harmed her.

“The abuse affected me so deeply, it changed my basic personality,” said Morrison, who is now married and pregnant with her first child. “I have to struggle with the fear of trying to protect my own child.”

Alexa Stitt, the stepniece, called Turley's sentence to the maximum term a relief and “shows justice was done and crimes like this won't be tolerated.”

The Buffalo News customarily does not identify victims of sex crimes. But Morrison and Stitt asked to be named and their accounts reported because they believe their experiences might lead other victims of childhood sexual assaults to come forward.

“It's extremely difficult to decide to tell,” Morrison said. “My mother didn't believe me. I knew a lot of people wouldn't.”

Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas sentenced Turley to the maximum sentence available at the time of the crimes, but he would have faced up to 39 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision under current law.

“I wish it was longer,” Morrison said of his sentence. “I wish it was forever.”

Turley, in a choked voice, told the judge he hopes to be released someday.

“All I'm looking for is not to spend the rest of my life in prison until I die,” said Turley, 48.

The victims, who are now 22, did not report the allegations against Turley to North Tonawanda police until late 2011.

They told police Turley had repeatedly fondled them, with one of the victims accusing him of abuse as far back as 1994, when she was 4 years old.

A jury convicted Turley of abusing the girls between August 1996 and June 1998, dates chosen because they fell within the statute of limitations.

Turley also was convicted of fondling Stitt again on Christmas Day 2003.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth R. Donatello said two other victims have accused Turley, but the alleged crimes fell outside the statute of limitations.

Turley, of Dunkirk, lived in North Tonawanda at the time of the crimes.

He was not in court to hear the jury's verdict against him Jan. 28. He left the courthouse during a lunch break Jan. 23 and fled.

He and his wife, Diane G. Turley, took their two dogs and eventually ended up in a trailer park outside Tucson, Ariz. They were captured Feb. 21.

Paul Turley has been held without bail since he was returned to Niagara County on March 14.

In an April 29 court appearance, he asked Farkas to let him change attorneys because he thought the lawyer he had hired for the trial, D. Daniel Stevanovic, did a poor job.

Farkas refused. “How would you know? You weren't here,” she told him.

Friday, Stevanovic said Turley left because prosecutors had requested that his bail be revoked as the result of alleged pretrial contact with Morrison.

“It was his belief he was going to be remanded,” Stevanovic said.

“His fear and anxiety about being sent back to jail overcame reason, and he left.”

Turley acknowledged making a “stupid decision. I was afraid of losing my family,” he said. “I panicked, and I ran.”

Assistant District Attorney Cheryl L. Nichols told Farkas that Turley's comments in a presentencing interview with a probation officer showed that he does not take responsibility for his actions and that he was concerned only about the case's impact on himself, his wife and his mother.

“We can see he doesn't think he did anything wrong. He thinks the absence of physical injury is the absence of all injury,” Nichols said. “He still thinks he's the victim here.”

The prosecutor added that Turley's willingness to blame others for his problems and “his narcissistic attitude are what make him a dangerous predator.”

Farkas said a 1994 Child Protective Services report remarked on abuse that had already occurred.

“Why did the abuse continue after it was indicated in 1994?” she asked Turley.

Turley did not answer her question.

“Regardless of the outcome of the trial, there was information I could have used to clear my name on one of the charges,” he said.

“Really?” Farkas replied. “I wish you had stayed, because you would have heard the most amazing testimony against you that I've ever heard in 30 years in the system.”

Diane Turley, 51, of Lily Dale, surrendered to Lockport police April 2 and pleaded guilty in City Court to a misdemeanor, attempted hindering prosecution. She is awaiting sentencing.

Jurors interviewed by The News after Paul Turley's trial said a key piece of evidence was a recording of a Dec. 19, 2011, phone call between Morrison and Turley.

During the conversation, Turley admitted that he had physical contact with Morrison when she was a little girl.

“In my misguided mind, the things we were doing together were not bad,” he said.

Farkas issued an order of protection that forbids all contact with the victims until 10 years after his release.

“It wasn't an accident,” Morrison said of the abuse. “How dare he think I would ever forgive him?”



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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Ex-Falls building commissioner gets probation for accepting gifts

May 10, 2013, 10:58 am
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In the end, the free golf outings and all expense-paid fishing trip cost Guy A. Bax a felony record.

The former Niagara Falls official who steered business to contractor John J. Gross Jr. in return for gifts and favors was sentenced Friday to two years probation.

Bax, one of the targets of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into public corruption in the Falls, admitted his guilt in January as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. He was convicted of accepting a gratuity concerning a program receiving federal funds.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara could have sentenced Bax to prison - the sentencing range for his crime was eight-to-14 months - but instead opted for probation.

“I don’t think it will serve any real purpose," Arcara said of the prospect of jail time for Bax. “I just don’t think it serves as a deterrent here."

Arcara also made reference to the “relatively minimal" gifts that Bax received from Gross - they totaled a few thousand dollars - and his nearly four years of public humiliation during the investigation.

“It’s been a horror show,” Bax said of his conviction. “I’ve watched my wife cry for four years. I’ve sullied my father’s name.”

Bax, 66, a longtime city employee, served as Niagara Falls building commissioner until his retirement in 2011 and acknowledged Friday that he’s ashamed of what he did during his time as commissioner.

His conviction stems from his relationship with Gross, a plumbing and heating contractor and political insider. Gross is serving 33 months in prison because of fraud and tax evasion convictions.

In Bax’s plea agreement, the government detailed how Bax steered business, usually homeowners or companies seeking permits and approvals from the city, to Gross.

“Mr. Bax is not here solely because he associated with John Gross,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy told Arcara. “If he was just friends with John Gross, he wouldn’t be here today.”

One of the instances cited in Bax’s plea agreement is a 2007 encounter between him and a property owner with plans to redevelop a commercial site in the Falls.

“You have to know the right people,” Bax told the owner.

He then suggested the property owner hire Gross because Gross “knows the right people and he knows the inspectors.”

Prosecutors said he provided the owner with a list of several contractors, but the owner later said he understood that hiring Gross was essential to getting the project completed.

In late 2007, the business person met with Bax, who was then the acting building commissioner, to discuss the business plan.

Bax told the person that other business people who were trying to get into the same industry failed to develop their projects because they were not using contractors who were “the right people,” according to the plea agreement.

“Guy Bax blurred the lines between his friendship with John Gross and his professional duties and responsibilities," Terrence M. Connors, Bax’s defense lawyer, told Arcara.

“The tragedy," Arcara said, “is that he’s here today."

email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
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Family wants answers after man’s death in ECMC ruled homicide

May 10, 2013, 5:16 pm
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The recent homicide ruling in the death last November of burglary suspect Richard Metcalf Jr. at Erie County Medical Center has left his parents “emotionally spent,” a family spokesman said.

“Again, they are devastated,” attorney Thomas J. Casey said of the Lancaster residents. “They want the people who caused their son’s death to be held accountable. They want the truth.”

The Metcalfs – Richard Sr. and Jane – are not willing to publicly speak about the case, Casey said.

Richard Jr., 35, died Nov. 30 while in police custody at the hospital. He had been arrested in Depew three days earlier.

Depew police reportedly used a stun gun twice on Metcalf as he charged at officers with a heavy metal wrench the night he was taken into custody.

State police are investigating what happened to Metcalf, who suffered a heart attack in an ambulance as he was being taken to ECMC for mental testing.

According to a Depew police report, Metcalf was “acting strange” when he was arrested. Police confronted him after he allegedly broke into St. Joseph’s Country Manor and Grove Catering in Depew. His unusual behavior led to reported scuffles with members of the Depew Police Department and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

The case may ultimately end up before an Erie County grand jury.

Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard said he “felt compelled” to respond to questions of force.

“We determined, and remain confident, that our use of force was justified and proper, and that it did not cause the death of Mr. Metcalf,” Howard wrote in an email.

“Following the medical examiner’s report, we contacted the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, and welcome an additional review, including the assistance of the New York State Police, since two different police agencies were involved. I remain certain that this review will find no fault with the conduct of our security staff.”

Depew police officials could not be reached to comment.

Former Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark said one issue, among others, is whether the physical force to subdue Metcalf was justified.

“Normally, tasing is not considered deadly physical force. You also have some evidence of blunt force trauma,” Clark said.

“There is testimony that he was difficult and had to be subdued, and now there is the wild card thrown in that this guy had a heart condition.

“The grand jury could determine if the physical force triggered other factors that triggered his death, and whether it occurred in Depew or the sheriff’s office,” Clark said.

At Metcalf’s arraignment in Depew, the judge ordered a forensic examination after police reported he had been “acting strange” and behaving violently. His mug shots at the Erie County Holding Center show him bruised and cut on the face.

“He walked into the Holding Center Tuesday afternoon, and he was taken out a little more than 30 hours later face down on a stretcher. He was taken to Buffalo General Hospital, where he was treated and then transferred to ECMC because of the trauma,” Casey said.

“On Friday afternoon, Nov. 30, he was declared brain-dead,” Casey said.

Metcalf, who Casey said worked in the stockroom at Walmart in Depew, stood 6 feet tall and weighed about 200 pounds.

Casey said the corrected death certificate issued April 25 listed the manner of death as a “heart attack as a consequence of hypertension, stress, liver disease and blunt force injuries.”

Casey in February filed a notice of claim against the Village of Depew and the village police department, as well as Erie County, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and Erie County Medical Center.



email: jkwiatkowski@buffnews.com
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Seven charged in Jamestown drug bust

May 10, 2013, 5:32 pm
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JAMESTOWN -- Three men and four women were taken into custody during Jamestown police raids Friday morning on two apartments at 916 North Main St. where police seized crack cocaine, prescription drug pills and a quantity of cash.

Also seized during the raids were stolen property including a lap-top computer that had been reported stolen during a Jamestown burglary Thursday night.

Taken into custody during the raids about 9 a.m. Friday were:

Cleophis Harris, 51, was charged with criminal nuisance in the first degree for allegedly renting one of the apartments and providing a location for drug sales and trafficking; drug possession charges were brought against Fattah Rahim, 54; Anthony M. Woods, 49; Dwight L. Logan, 35; Chantelle Logan, 34; Allison Turner, 34; Sue Ann Gifford, 32; Spokesmen for the police department said the investigation is continuing and more charges are expected to be filed.

Anyone with information about the illegal sale of narcotics is urged to contact the Jamestown Police Department’s Anonymous Tip Line at 483-TIPS (8477). All calls are kept confidential.
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Gang member convicted in shooting that targeted witness

May 10, 2013, 5:33 pm
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A Town of Tonawanda man was convicted Friday of wounding an innocent female bystander when he was trying to shoot a witness in a murder case just after midnight last Aug. 5.

Eric Smith, 23, a member of the Buffalo chapter of the Rollin’ 60s Crips street gang, was convicted of first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Following a week-long trial before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia, the Buffalo jury of six women and six men deliberated for just over three hours before finding Smith, of Colvin Avenue, guilty as charged in the shooting at Colvin and St. Lawrence Avenues in Buffalo.

After the judge remanded Smith pending his July 2 sentencing, trial prosecutors Michael P. Felicetta and James R. Gardner said they will urge Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III to recommend the judge impose the maximum-allowable 25-year prison term on Smith.

Daniel J. Dubois, attorney for Smith, who has been jailed since his arrest last September, said the conviction will be appealed.

Monday and Tuesday the woman who Smith shot and the male prosecution witness who was the intended target identified Smith as the shooter. The prosecutors and court officials asked the news media not to identify the two witnesses.

The prosecutors said Smith was attempting to silence a witness against fellows Crips members in the grisly stabbing of 16-year-old Darren Brown during a Crips inauguration ceremony last July 5. The prosecutors said Brown was killed because men wanting to get admitted to the Crips had to first carry out a killing.

Kentie Crumps, 17, of Young Street, another Crips gang member, faces a still-unscheduled assault trial for his alleged role in the attempted shooting of the prosecution witness, Felicetta and Gardner said.

On March 18, a jury found Ezeiekile Nafti, 17, guilty of first-degree murder for taking part in the killing of Brown, who was stabbed 54 times before his body was set on fire on an old railroad right-of-way near Colvin Avenue late on July 5, 2012.

Nafti faces sentencing May 29 before Buscaglia. Felicetta and Colleen Curtin Gable, the prosecutors in the murder case, said Crips gang member Demetrius Huff, 18, who had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and then withdrew his plea, faces a murder trial before Buscaglia on Sept. 30.

After the verdict was announced, Sedita said he considered Smith’s “violent conduct linked to witness intimidation efforts to be an affront to the very integrity of the criminal justice system and must be dealt with accordingly.”



email: mgryta@buffnews.com
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Man convicted of raping best friend’s girlfriend

May 10, 2013, 6:02 pm
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LOCKPORT – After more than five hours of deliberation over two days, a Niagara County Court jury on Friday convicted a Lockport man of raping his best friend’s girlfriend almost two years ago.

Dalvan H. Robinson, 51, of Pennsylvania Avenue, was found guilty of first- and third-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced July 31 by County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas, who ordered him held without bail in the meantime.

Robinson was charged with attacking the 37-year-old woman in a home on South Street in Lockport in the early hours of July 30, 2011. Prosecutors Elizabeth R. Donatello and Cheryl L. Nichols said the woman was sleepy, groggy and ill after a night of bar-hopping. Defense attorney George V.C. Muscato argued unsuccessfully that the sex was consensual and the woman’s story was not believable.

The jury of eight men and four women got the case during the noon hour Thursday and worked until 4:30 p.m. They resumed deliberations at 9:15 a.m. Friday and produced a verdict after about an hour.

In another sex case Friday, County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III accepted a guilty plea from Derrick J. Houser of Niagara Falls, who already was awaiting sentencing on three other felonies.

Murphy agreed to give Houser no more than six years in prison on his latest plea, to attempted second-degree criminal sexual act, but he could add as many as four years for each of the other felonies: two counts of failing to register as a sex offender and one count of violating probation on a conviction for attempted first-degree sexual abuse. Thus, Houser could be sentenced to as long as 18 years behind bars.

Houser, 27, of Cedar Avenue, admitted having oral sex with a 14-year-old girl in late February or early March 2012.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to register because he temporarily moved to Detroit in June 2012 without telling Falls police, and also because he failed to disclose a Facebook account to state authorities. The sexual abuse charge, involving a girl under age 15, dates from 2009.

Back in Farkas’ courtroom, Michael D. Agee, 20, of Niagara Falls, was sentenced to five years in prison and three years’ post-release supervision for shooting a man who was sitting in a parked car.

The sentence was added to a 12-year term Farkas previously imposed on Agee for two armed robberies.

Assistant District Attorney Theresa L. Prezioso said the shooting victim, Lafayette Lewis, was in a car in front of his mother’s house on Eighth Street in the Falls on July 14 when Agee, who knew Lewis, walked up and shot him in the arm.

Also Friday, Amanda M. Henry, 27, of Ferry Avenue in the Falls, pleaded guilty to stabbing two men July 7 on that street.

Henry admitted to second-degree assault and faces up to seven years in prison when Farkas sentences her July 12. The judge reduced her bail from $50,000 to $10,000 because Henry has an 11-year-old daughter, and Assistant Public Defender Michele G. Bergevin said Henry is unlikely to flee.

Bergevin said Henry was intoxicated when she attacked the men on her birthday. Prezioso said Henry started a verbal altercation with them.



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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Town of Lockport meth lab busted

May 10, 2013, 6:06 pm
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A 27-year-old Town of Lockport man was arrested and a suspected meth lab in a Ruhlman Road home in the township was busted about 8 a.m. Friday by the Niagara County Drug Task Force and state police.

Jeffrey M. Budde was taken into custody on charges of unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine, criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully dealing with a child.

Niagara County Sheriff James R. Voutour said a three-month investigation of the alleged lab operation revealed that a two-year-old child was in the residence while methamphetamine was being cooked.

The sheriff said at least two fires have taken place at the Ruhlman Road house in the past few months because of the meth operation. Units of the South Lockport Fire Company were on hand during Friday morning’s raid as a precaution, the sheriff said.

Budde is being held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or a $10,000 bail bond.
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Man charged with trying to kill girl loses lawyer

May 10, 2013, 6:06 pm
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LOCKPORT – A Lockport man charged with the attempted murder of a 7-year-old girl on New Year’s Eve lost his attorney Friday because of a conflict of interest.

Assistant Public Defender Michele G. Bergevin was removed as the attorney for David L. Alfonso because a prosecution witness had once been represented by the Public Defender’s Office. The Niagara County Conflict Defender’s Office will take up Alfonso’s case, County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas ordered.

Farkas also revoked Alfonso’s telephone privileges at the County Jail, after Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth R. Donatello reported that Alfonso had been phoning the victim and her mother, allegedly trying to persuade them not to testify against him.

The woman was Alfonso’s girlfriend at the time of the incident, in which he allegedly choked the girl into unconsciousness before the woman attacked him with a knife. She was not charged.
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Two men sentenced on cocaine charges in Niagara

May 10, 2013, 6:07 pm
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LOCKPORT – The charge was the same but the sentences differed in two drug cases before Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas Friday.

Kevin I. Kelly, 19, of John Street, Lockport, went to state prison for attempted fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Kelly was recommended for “shock incarceration,” a six-month boot camp-style program. If he isn’t admitted or washes out of it, he serves a year in a regular cell.

DeMario D. Crittenden, 33, of 16th Street, Niagara Falls, drew five years’ probation for the same charge.

Both men were found to have cocaine when cars in which they were passengers were stopped by police. Kelly was arrested May 22 on Walnut Street in Lockport; Crittenden was picked up twice in the Falls, on Dec. 3, 2011, and Jan. 2, 2012.
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SLA closes University Heights bar for sale of alcohol to minors

May 10, 2013, 6:07 pm
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Mojo’s, a popular Main Street bar near the University at Buffalo’s South Campus was shut down Friday by the State Liquor Authority for alleged sales of alcohol to minors.

Dennis Rosen, chair of the State Liquor Authority, an April 10 undercover check led to the bar’s latest problem.

The SLA, state police and Buffalo police sent three underage undercover agents into the bar at 3148 Main St. They were admitted despite presenting driver’s licenses that showed they were under 21 and served by a bartender who did not ask for identification, Rosen said.

Rosen said the SLA voted Friday to charged with bar with three violations for selling to a minor and failure to provide adequate supervision of employees.

The bar has two pending cases before the SLA for earlier sales to minors with a hearing in those cases scheduled for June 5.

Spokesmen for 4D Associates Inc., which operates the bar, could not be reached to comment.

“Cracking down on underage sales is a priority and the SLA will not hesitate in taking emergency action against licensees that blatantly and repeatedly sell to minors,” Rosen said. “We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement across the state to hold licensees accountable,” he stressed.
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Buffalo man gets 10-year federal prison term for cocaine trafficking

May 10, 2013, 6:38 pm
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Ramone Perry, 32, of Buffalo, on Friday was ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to serve 10 years in federal prison and then face eight years of post-release supervision on a conviction for cocaine distribution.

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul,Jr. said Perry was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Perry was arrested after being intercepted on wiretaps arranging cocaine purchases. Search warrants executed during the Perry investigation resulted in the seizure of 17 firearms, more than five kilograms of cocaine powder and more than 200 grams of crack cocaine, Hochul said.

An alleged associate of Perry is still facing trial on drug and gun charges
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City man arrested with 18 pounds of pot in his car

May 10, 2013, 6:38 pm
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A 30-year-old Buffalo man was arrested Friday on drug charges after about 18 pounds of marijuana valued at $40,000 were seized from his car.

Andrew Powell, who lists a Gilbert Street address, was arrested by detectives of the Erie County sheriff’s and Buffalo police narcotics units, who spotted his car about 3 p.m. on Pine Street.

Senior Detective Alan Rozansky of the sheriff’s unit said officers acted on an arrest warrant issued by State Supreme Court Justice Timothy J. Drury. Rozansky and Detective Tim Donovan said Powers was believed to have been planning to sell that marijuana in Buffalo and its suburbs.

Powers is being held on charges of first-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a felony carrying a possible 15-year prison term.
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Supervisor, deputy end standoff in Elma

May 11, 2013, 6:20 am
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Erie County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy J. Higgins’ exile from the sheriff’s substation in Elma is over.

Higgins, a 27-year veteran of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, will return to the substation in Elma Town Hall for his early-morning shift today as a result of a “handshake” agreement reached Friday with Town Supervisor Dennis M. Powers.

Higgins said he and Powers worked out a nonwritten “gentlemen’s agreement to let bygones be bygones, and we worked out our differences and are moving on.” The two held a 20-minute meeting Friday at the Iroquois School complex on Girdle Road.

Higgins has spent the last month assigned to the Sheriff’s Office’s Grand Island substation because some Elma town officials had complained to Sheriff Timothy B. Howard about his apparent disrespect of them.

Higgins, a Buffalo resident, on Friday would not discuss the complaints of various Elma town officials that had prompted Howard to honor the town’s request and reassign Higgins 15 months ago.

In late March, thanks to arbitration proceedings launched by Higgins’ labor union representatives, arbitrator Michael Lewandowski found “not one scrap of evidence” to support complaints about Higgins by Elma officials. The arbitrator also ordered Howard to pay Higgins $8,300 for time he lost over the dispute. Higgins Friday said, “I’m still trying to get that from the sheriff.”

Efforts to reach Powers on Friday evening were unsuccessful

Powers previously told The Buffalo News that Higgins had threatened the Town Board in connection with a town employee and a political feud in that part of the county.

Higgins recently dropped a notice of claim Higgins had filed against the town in February 2012 concerning a part-time court officer’s job he lost, which apparently contributed to the resolution of the dispute with the town.

During the 2011 town judge race, Higgins had openly favored incumbent Joseph A. Sakowski, who won re-election over a Town Board member who had sought the judicial post. That contributed to the dispute in town hall, sources close to the case said.

Higgins is the son of Thomas F. Higgins, who served as Erie County sheriff from 1986 to 1997.

The substation based in Elma Town Hall covers Elma, Marilla and Wales.



email: mgryta@buffnews.com
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Damage to DWI suspect’s vehicle leads to possible hit-and-run charges

May 11, 2013, 6:32 am
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A Rhode Island man charged with driving while intoxicated late Friday night in Lancaster, was later turned over to Cheektowaga police where he faces possible charges for a hit-and-run accident that occurred earlier in the night in that town, authorities reported Saturday.

Deputies Daniel Harris and Richard Retzlaff stopped a vehicle driven by Hans Benonisen, 37, on Transit Road in the Town of Lancaster shortly before 10:30 p.m. The deputies had spotted several infractions, including non-functioning tail lights, failure to use the turn signal properly and the vehicle not staying within its lane, according to police reports.

Benonisen, who refused to submit to a chemical breath test, was charged with DWI.

After the deputies spotted damage to his vehicle, they learned from Cheektowaga police that the same vehicle had been involved in a prior hit-and-run incident there, officials said.

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