(WNY News Now) Buffalo, NY – Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane said that a 60-year-old Buffalo man has entered a guilty plea to a number of retail theft and burglary counts that span many instances at the Walden Galleria.Photograph by the Erie County DA’s Office of Gary E. White
Three counts of Burglary in the Third Degree and Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, both Class D felonies, were among the six counts Gary E. White, also known as Gary Johnson, admitted to. He also entered a guilty plea to two Class A misdemeanors: Petit Larceny and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree. All of the accusations in the indictment against White are covered by his guilty plea.
White started his shoplifting rampage on January 16, 2023, when he broke a no-trespassing order from a previous offense and entered the Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga without permission. He took a large quantity of goods from a retail shop. On January 23, 2023, a week later, White went back to the same business and stole coats, hoodies, and sweatshirts worth more than $5,000.
On April 20, 2023, White committed his most recent crime when he stole apparel, shoes, and other goods from many establishments in the same shopping center. After witnessing the theft, a store manager called the police. From White’s bag, responding cops found stolen goods.
As a second-time felony offender, White is being held without bail and could spend up to seven years behind bars. Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek of the State Supreme Court will sentence him on February 14, 2025. In order to prevent White from accessing the stores he targeted, prosecutors will ask for trespass warnings.
DA Keane commended the work of Cheektowaga Police Department Detective Michael Curtis and Officers Bradford Hebeler, Lenore Kukoleca, and Michelle Wojtkowiak, whose investigations resulted in the charges.
The case was handled by Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Jurusik, who was a member of the Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
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