Arraignment

Brittany Farley and Nicholas Hatswell, residents of Clarence Center, are facing several charges after a welfare check found that the animals in their care were ill and mistreated, including a dog that had been stabbed in the neck (WNY News Now). Clarence A pair from the NYA Clarence Center was charged with animal abuse after New York State Police made a startling discovery on December 26, 2024. Under the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, Brittany Farley, 28, and Nicholas Hatswell, 26, were each charged with two counts of failing to provide proper sustenance and overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals. Aggravated Cruelty to Animals, a Class E felony, is another charge against Farley. The New York State Police made the charges after performing a welfare check at a home on Nort...

(WNY News Now) Attorney General Letitia James declared that seven members of a drug trafficking organization had been indicted. Over 10,500 fake oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, eight kilograms of cocaine, three guns, including a ghost gun, and $14,000 in cash were found during the investigation. Monday, January 9, 2025, New York Seven members of a drug trafficking organization that unlawfully distributed cocaine and fake oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Westchester counties were arrested and charged by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday. Shamique Delaine, Jonte Hatcher, Romell Hearn, Nicole Kane, Daquan Killian, and Dwan Scafe are all charged in the 155-count indictment with conspiracy and trafficking cocaine and fake oxycodone pi...

(WNY News Now) A Buffalo man is charged with murder in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found along a Chautauqua County trail, marking the culmination of a four-year hunt for answers.Fox, Richard J. Erie County DA's Office Photo After being arrested on Wednesday, Buffalo resident Richard J. Fox, 61, was charged with Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A-I felony, and was arraigned in Buffalo City Court today. The accusations were made public by Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane and are related to the death and disappearance of 50-year-old Marquita Mull in 2021. Late in June 2021, Mull was reported off the radar. Three months later, her remains were found in Chautauqua County's Town of Portland, close to a hiking route. According to authorities, Fox killed h...

(WNY News Now) Accusations of sexually abusing five kids over a period of years have been brought against a former Scranton police officer and school resource officer at West Scranton High School. HARRISBURG—A former Lackawanna County police officer who worked as a school resource officer at West Scranton High School has been charged with sexually abusing five minors over a number of years, according to Attorney General Michelle Henry and the Pennsylvania State Police. At the time of the alleged crimes, 49-year-old Stephen J. Carroll was a Scranton police officer; he is no longer with the department. Carroll was accused of rape, statutory sexual assault, official oppression, institutional sexual assault, involuntary deviant sexual relations, and other felonies by Pennsylvania State Polic...

(WNY News Now) HARRISBURG, PANINE — A $20 million Medicaid and Medicare fraud conspiracy allegedly coordinated through Broad Street Family Pharmacy, a pharmacy in South Philadelphia, has led to charges against individuals. HARRISBURG — Attorney General Michelle Henry charged nine people in connection with a $20 million Medicaid and Medicare fraud scheme that originated from a small drugstore in South Philadelphia. Broad Street Family Pharmacy's registered owner, Elizabeth Thompson, her husband, Peter Dello Buono, who managed day-to-day operations, and pharmacist Frank Bengermino are accused of masterminding the scheme, which took place between 2016 and 2021 and involved false claims for costly prescription drugs to federal benefits programs. The drugstore purportedly paid their customers c...

(WNY News Now) Six people have been accused by a federal grand jury with a multi-state plan to steal leftover restaurant cooking oil, a commodity that is needed for the creation of biodiesel fuel. New York's Rochester. Federal charges have been brought against six men for allegedly plotting to steal and resell leftover cooking oil, which is frequently converted into biodiesel fuel. U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced the indictment, which charges Ruimao Yang, Yan Han, and Wen Xiao Zhang of New York City, Guodeng Chen, Didi Huang, and Fangfang Yan of Pittsford, N.Y., with conspiring to transport and sell stolen items across state lines. The maximum punishment for a conviction on the conspiracy accusation is five years in prison. Additional allegations against Chen, Huang, and Yan includ...

(WNY News Now) After allegedly forging petition signatures, Sally A. Jaroszynski, a candidate for Chautauqua County Family Court, was charged with violating election laws. Falconer resident Sally A. Jaroszynski, 57, has been charged with election law breaches after allegedly fabricating a petition in support of her candidacy for Chautauqua County Family Court Judge. The accusations were made public today by Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane, who said that Jaroszynski is charged with two unclassified misdemeanors, Misconduct in Relation to Petitions. But because of problems with the evidence, one of the counts was rejected. The claims are based on an incident that happened in Chautauqua County's Town of Ellicott on March 26, 2024. Jaroszynski signed and notarized a Conse...

(WNY News Now) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The owner of a home care service in Montgomery County and 19 other people have been charged in a multimillion-dollar scheme following a comprehensive Medicaid fraud investigation, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said Friday. HARRISBURG—A Montgomery County home care service, its owner, and eighteen other individuals have been accused in a scheme that allegedly scammed the Medicaid program out of millions of dollars, Attorney General Michelle Henry revealed. ComfortZone Home Health Care, LLC, a Medicaid provider located in Bala Cynwyd and authorized to offer Personal Assistance Services to qualified beneficiaries, was owned by Stephanie Mobley. The Office of Attorney General filed charges alleging that Mobley, her daughter Naya Campbell,...

Mobile Users: Click Here to Watch the Video(WNY News Now) As part of an international $2 million organized retail theft case, Governor Kathy Hochul and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the first-ever indictment under a pioneering statute targeting the sale of stolen goods.In the ongoing battle against organized retail theft, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Governor Kathy Hochul announced a historic indictment ahead of the holiday shopping season. According to the indictment, organized crews stole retail goods valued at over $2 million over the course of a multi-year, global operation. As part of Governor Hochul's five-point plan to combat organized retail theft, the case contains the first-ever charges under his recently passed statute that makes encouraging the sa...

Richard Gaines Jr. allegedly took out about $80,000 in pension money from the New York State and Local Retirement System by taking advantage of his father's passing (WNY News Now).A Florida man was charged with grand larceny and identity theft by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly for allegedly accepting, taking out, and spending close to $80,000 in pension payments from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) to the defendant's father, who had died in 2019.Judge Geoffrey Prime arraigned Richard Gaines Jr., 51, of Daytona Beach, Florida, today on counts of identity theft in the first degree (a D felony) and grand larceny in the second degree (a C felony). After entering a not guilty plea, the defendant was freed on his own r...