ALBION – Three people from Orleans County have recently been sentenced to state prison by County Court Judge Sanford Church.

Ronald Riley, 41, of Medina received the longest sentence at four years in prison plus three years of post-release supervision.

He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. He was on parole when he allegedly had and sold cocaine in Medina. He was charged on Oct. 1, 2019.

He was sentenced in County Court on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, David R. Tower, 41, of Lyndonville was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison for felony driving while intoxicated and for violating his probation. He also will be on post-release supervision for one year.

Last week on Sept. 9, Thomas Edgtion, 35, of Albion was sentenced to 1 ½ years of state prison and one year of post-release supervision for criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.

He was charged last Dec. 5 for allegedly selling and distributing crack cocaine and powder cocaine in Albion.

In other cases:

• Scott Foley, 52, was presented a new plea offer after charges of attempted second-degree murder were withdrawn. Foley now faces charges of reckless endangerment in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and DWI.

He has until Sept. 23 to decide if he will accept a plea deal with a cap of five years in state prison.

He allegedly fired two shots from a rifle on Jan. 2 at Roadies Pizzeria and Sports Bar on Route 98 in Carlton. One of the rounds was recovered inside the pizzeria and sports bar.

Foley was at Roadies and was asked to leave by one of the co-owners after a “disturbance,” DA Joe Cardone said in court on Feb. 20. Foley left and returned, allegedly shooting a rifle from the parking lot.

• Jacob Twardowski, 20, of Albion was sentenced to four months of weekends in the county jail, plus probation. He was charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree for allegedly having 19 ounces of marijuana.

• Kelly Morrison, 45, of Medina was sentenced to five years of probation for third-degree attempted arson for allegedly setting her house on fire on May 11, 2019 on Gwinn Street. She also must pay any “reasonable restitution.”

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ALBION – Two inmates at local state prisons were sentenced to more time of incarceration on Wednesday in Orleans County Court.

Angela Tuitt, 33, was an inmate at the Albion Correctional Facility when she allegedly threw fecal matter at a corrections officer.

She was sentenced to 1 ½ to 3 years in prison for aggravated harassment of an employee by inmate. She was sentenced by County Court Judge Sanford Church.

The judge also sentenced Michael T. Hawkins, a former inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion to 1 ½ to 3 years in state prison.

Hawkins allegedly struck a corrections officer in the face, causing a laceration with blood. He was sentenced for attempted assault in the second degree.

In other cases in County Court:

• Benith White of Albion was sentenced to 364 days in jail for violating an order of protection which is criminal contempt in the second degree.

• The judge arraigned Amanda Bieber, 32, of Batavia and Tony Graber, 41, of Corfu for criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree. In May, they allegedly possessed stolen parts from a 1959 Corvette in Barre. Those parts are valued at $9,960.

• The judge issued a warrant for Dennis Biaselli, who didn’t appear in court the past two weeks. Biaselli, 45, of Albion faces charges of felony driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of motor vehicle.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans County Public Defender Joanne Best speaks to local officials during last week’s meeting of the Orleans County Association of Municipalities, which was held at Tillman’s Village Inn.

ALBION – Orleans County Public Defender Joanne Best said the local town justice courts are in the process of reopening but many still need to have partitions in place for judges and attorneys.

The local town courts started to reopen for cases last month. Some of the court rooms are only allowing 10 people inside the courtrooms at a time. With the judge, court clerk, stenographer, district attorney, public defender and defendant, the space is already more than half full.

Best addressed local officials last week during the monthly Orleans County Association of Municipalities meeting. She told them many of the town hall buildings still need to become Covid-19 compliant for court.

That includes Plexiglass dividers in front of judges and between attorneys and their clients at the attorney-client rooms. The attorney-client rooms also need to have enough space to allow for social distancing.

Best said those protections need to be in place “or we can’t send attorneys in,” she said.

She said she has some temporary dividers in her office that the courts can use until they get their own in place.

“Whatever your feelings are about it, we are being directed to have PPE and shields (in the courts),” Best told the local officials.

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ALBION – A former corrections officer at the Albion Correctional Facility pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sex act against two different female inmates.

James W. Castonguay, 30, of Amherst pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court on Aug. 6 and could spend time in the county jail and on probation when he is sentenced on Oct. 28.

He admitted in court to forcing two inmates to give him oral sex while he was working at the women’s prison.

He was charged last September by the State Police with third-degree criminal sexual act, official misconduct and third-degree rape.

Castonguay also is one of several corrections officers named in a $25 million federal lawsuit that alleges cover-ups of rape and sexual assault reports at Albion Correctional, Bedford Hills, Lakeview Shock Correctional and Taconic Correctional.

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Press Release, United States Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., Western District of New York

BUFFALO – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Nolan Donald, 21, of Lyndonville, who was convicted of being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition, and possessing with intent to distribute, and distributing marijuana, was sentenced to serve three years home confinement by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth T. Molisani, who handled the case, stated that between February 2018 and April 18, 2018, the defendant was addicted to, or was an unlawful user of, marijuana. On April 18, 2018, Donald was arrested following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on North Lyndonville Road. Inside the residence, investigators recovered a 9mm, semi-automatic pistol, loaded with eight rounds of ammunition; a 12-gauge shotgun; 79 rounds of ammunition; a small quantity of marijuana; edible marijuana cookies; and plastic baggies.

Following his arrest, the defendant admitted that he sold marijuana for approximately two years preceding his arrest and continued to sell marijuana and other marijuana products up until the time of his arrest. Donald also stated that he had used marijuana every day for the past year and a half.

Between February 17, 2018, and April 18, 2018, the defendant posted videos and photos to the social media application “Snapchat” in which he appeared to be in possession of a pistol and large quantities of marijuana, and using what appeared to be marijuana and prescription medicine.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division.

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A Rochester man has been charged after a lengthy investigation into a fatal drug overdose in November 2019, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force is reporting today.

Kashbi C. Sanders

Kashbi C. Sanders, 28, of Charlotte Street in Rochester allegedly sold a lethal combination of heroin and fentanyl in Orleans County.

On Wednesday he was arraigned in Orleans County Court by Judge Sanford Church on two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, which are Class B felonies.

Sanders was released on his own recognizance due to the new bail reform laws. He is to appear next in County Court on Aug. 12.

He is currently being held in Monroe County Jail after being charged by the Rochester Police Department on numerous felony weapons charges, including first-degree robbery and second-degree assault in April 2020, the Task Force reported today.

The investigation is the fatal drug overdose is ongoing.

Investigators with the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest on Wednesday. The Rochester PD and Monroe County Heroin Task Force assisted in the investigation.

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Courthouse begins to reopen with grand jury, some in-person appearances

ALBION – Orleans County Court is gradually reopening although it isn’t fully reopen to the public.

The court is doing some in-person arraignments and some defendants have taken plea offers. Some court proceedings continue through Skype.

Last week the first grand jury was seated since mid-March, when the court systems were largely shut down in the state. The grand jury usually meets in the Public Safety Building but was moved to the main courtroom in the County Courthouse to allow for more social distancing.

Last month, three people pleaded guilty in county court and accepted plea offers.

Those cases include:

• Ronald R. Cook Jr., 36, of Cobleskill, pleaded guilty on July 29 to one count of third-degree rape. He admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old girl who he met through the 4-H program.

Cook could face up to 6 months in the county jail and 10 years on probation when he is sentenced on Oct. 14.

• Deon Jackson, 20, of Medina pleaded guilty on July 2 to second-degree burglary after a home invasion in Medina. He allegedly entered a Medina residence without permission on July 3, 2019 with a BB pistol, and took $1,700 in cash.

As part of the plea, he faces a maximum of five years in state prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 19.

• Kelly Morrison, 45, of Medina pleaded guilty on July 8 to third-degree attempted arson for allegedly setting her house on fire on May 11, 2019 on Gwinn Street.

Morrison faces up to five years in probation and must pay any “reasonable restitution.” She will be sentenced on Sept. 9.

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RIDGEWAY – The State Appellate Court last week upheld the decision by an acting Orleans County Court judge who sentenced a Ridgeway man to 20 years in prison.

Gerardo Quiros

Gerardo Quiros, 33, was convicted by a jury of sexual assault and rape charges during a trial in July 2018. He held a woman against her will for several weeks, while physically and sexually assaulting her.

He was found guilty by the jury of rape in the first degree (four counts), criminal sexual act in the first degree (three counts), criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree (two counts), assault in the third degree, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief in the fourth degree and unlawful possession of marijuana.

On Sept. 17, 2018, he was sentenced by Sara Sheldon, a Niagara County Court judge, to 20 years in prison, plus 10 years of post-release supervision.

Quiros, during sentencing, declined to address the court. His attorney, Scott Riordan, advised Quiros not to speak at sentencing because they would immediately appeal the conviction and sentence.

Riordan filed an appeal, and it was unanimously rejected on Friday by the State Appellate Division, Fourth Department.

Riordan in the appeal said the judge should have dismissed the indictment against Quiros because of testimony from a former girlfriend. Riordan said Quiros shouldn’t have faced multiple counts in the indictment because the former girlfriend didn’t provide specific details on precise dates.

The victim testified there were as many as 40 incidents of forced sexual assault. The prosecutor, District Attorney Joe Cardone, had clear dates for 10 counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Those counts should all be treated as separate counts or crimes, the court said.

“The victim’s testimony was detailed, graphic, and corroborated by receipts, photographs, and emails that allowed the victim to pinpoint the precise dates on which each of those incidents of forced sexual intercourse occurred,” the court said. “Because defendant was convicted only of those counts of [rape in the first degree] where pretrial notice of specific instances was given and where those specific instances were proved at trial, we conclude that dismissal of those counts as duplicitous was not required.”

Quiros was indicted in May 2017 for repeatedly raping and sodomizing his now former girlfriend in March 15 to April 29, 2017 at his house on Ridge Road.

He was subject of a manhunt on April 29, 2017. Quiros fled before police arrived, leading to a massive police search of the area and a stay-in-place order for nearby residents. The search was called off after several hours when police determined Quiros was no longer in the area. He was arrested two days later in Lockport.

He posted $200,000 bail and then faced other charges from a separate case. On Jan. 1, 2018, he barged into a home on Root Road in Barre and tried to drag a new girlfriend out of the house by her feet. He was stopped by her brother, who made Quiros leave at gunpoint.

Quiros pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors – criminal trespass in the second degree and attempted unlawful imprisonment in the first degree. He was sentenced to a year in the county jail for those crimes, with that incarceration to be served concurrently with the state prison sentence.

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ALBION – A former inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion pleaded guilty to attempted assault in the second degree.

Michael Hawkins entered an Alford plea in Orleans County Court, where he maintained his innocence but didn’t want to risk going to trial and being found guilty of second-degree assault, which has a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.

“I don’t want to take the chance of going to trial and being found guilty,” said Hawkins, who is now an inmate at Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone, Franklin County.

Hawkins, in court last week, acknowledged there was an incident between him and a corrections officer on Jan. 2, 2018. But he told Judge Sanford Church there wasn’t contact with the CO. The judge asked Hawkins if he intended to injure the corrections officer and Hawkins said, “No.”

District Attorney Joe Cardone said there is testimony and videotape of Hawkins where the footage shows him resisting corrections officers during an extraction procedure in Hawkins’ cell, which was done when the inmate allegedly wasn’t following the prison rules.

A corrections officer suffered a laceration to the face and was exposed to blood and bodily fluids from Hawkins, Cardone said.

The corrections officer suffered substantial pain and missed work for several months, Cardone said.

As part of the plea agreement, Hawkins will face a maximum of an additional 1 ½ to 3 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28.

• In court this morning, Judge Church arraigned Derrick Hildreth, 42, of Albion for two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Hildreth on Dec. 5 allegedly had cocaine with the intent to sell it. He was released on his own recognizance this morning.

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CARLTON – An Albion man rejected a plea offer today that would have capped his prison sentence at 10 years for attempted murder in the second-degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second.

Scott A. Foley, 52, was arraigned on Feb. 20 for attempted murder in the second degree, which carries a maximum of 25 years in prison.

He allegedly fired two shots from a rifle on Jan. 2 at Roadies Pizzeria and Sports Bar on Route 98.

Foley also is facing charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, reckless endangerment in the first degree, and driving while intoxicated.

District Attorney Joe Cardone said Foley showed a depraved indifference to human life by firing the rifle twice from his vehicle in the parking lot. One of the rounds was recovered inside the pizzeria and sports bar.

Foley was at Roadies and was asked to leave by one of the co-owners after a “disturbance,” Cardone said on Feb. 20.

Foley left and returned, allegedly shooting a rifle from the parking lot. Cardone said the incident was unprovoked and “an extremely serious situation.”

Foley has been in the county jail since his arrest with bail currently set at $15,000 cash or $75,000 bond. He appeared in court today with his attorney, Jim Doyle. They were presented the plea offer but declined it.

Doyle said he is preparing motions or arguments to file in the case.

In other cases in court today:

• Tashira Allee, 36, of Medina pleaded guilty to criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree. She could face up to a year in the county jail when she is sentenced on May 14.

Allee admitted in court to Judge Church she had a stolen trailer on July 21.

“Did you possess with the intent to benefit yourself and not the owner?” Judge Church asked her.

“Yes,” Allee responded.

She is a co-defendant in a case with her husband, Anthony Allee. He also is facing federal charges. He has been charged with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, marijuana, hydrocodone, and cocaine, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum of life.

With the stolen trailer, Mrs. Allee today agreed to pay “reasonable restitution,” an amount to be determined.

• A Cobleskill man was arraigned in for third-degree rape, two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal sex act in the third degree.

Ronald R. Cook Jr., 35, allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old girl who he met through the 4-H program. He entered not guilty pleas to the charges.

He has no prior criminal history. The judge set bail at $10,000 cash and $25,000 bond.

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ALBION — A man involved in an 11-hour standoff in Knowlesville in December was arraigned in Orleans County today for multiple charges in that incident, as well as additional charges of rape for alleged crimes in November 2018.

Edward Loper

Edward Loper, 31, was taken into custody at 2:48 a.m. on Dec. 4 after a standoff with law enforcement at 3634 Knowlesville Rd. Deputies were dispatched to the site at 4:46 p.m. on Dec. 3 with reports of a disturbance.

The first arriving law enforcement officers found a large crowd outside the residence and learned a person had been assaulted and mini-14 rifle and a shotgun had been stolen. Loper went back inside the residence after threatening to kill the people in the front yard, deputies said then.

A perimeter was then established by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and State Police. The Orleans County Multi-Agency SWAT was then requested to the scene when the law enforcement on the scene were unable to make contact with Loper.

An Orleans County Sheriff’s investigator and negotiator from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office were able to make contact with Loper. After an hours-long phone conversation with Loper, and several tactics used by the SWAT teams on scene, Loper agreed to come out of the residence. He came out of the front door and was taken into custody at 2:48 a.m. on Dec. 4.

This morning he was arraigned for third-degree assault, second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree robbery, fourth-degree grand larceny and criminal mischief in the fourth degree.

He faced an additional felony indictment this morning for four counts of second-degree rape and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Loper allegedly had sex four times with a 14-year-old girl in November 2018.

Loper, represented by attorney Michael O’Keefe, entered not guilty pleas this morning before Judge Sanford Church.

The judge set bail at $10,000 cash and $50,000 bond for Loper, who is in the Orleans County Jail. The judge said bail was necessary “given the nature of the charges” and Loper’s criminal history, which includes two parole violations and 12 misdemeanors.

The judge also approved an order of protection for the alleged victim with the rape charges.

Loper is to appear in County Court on March 19.

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