ALBION – Three people were sentenced to state prison on Monday for drug crimes in Orleans County.

Christopher J. Price, 28, of 1 Thomas St., Apartment D. in the Holley received the longest sentence at 2 ½ years in prison. He was sentenced for unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine in the third degree. As a second felony offender, he faced a maximum of 1 ½ to 4 years.

Price was arrested on Feb. 4 after an investigation into a methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution operation in Holley.

Price’s attorney asked for leniency for Price who has a young son, requesting shock treatment with discipline and structure for Price. But Orleans County Court Judge James Punch declined the request.

“You let your son down by engaging in this activity,” Punch told Price during sentencing. “I am not going to tolerate you introducing methamphetamine into this community.”

• Andre Coley, 25, of West Bank Street in Albion was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 1 year of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Colley apologized to his family and the community during sentencing.

Judge Punch sentenced Coley to the Willard drug treatment program through the state corrections system.

“Don’t screw up at Willard and when you get out I hope you get back on track,” Punch said.

• Steven L. Carter, 23, of Rochester was sentenced to a year in prison and one year of post-release supervision. Carter admitted in a previous court appearance to having cocaine during a traffic stop in January on Clarendon Street in the Village of Albion.

Carter has no prior criminal record and was a trustee in the county jail. His attorney, Brian Degnan, said Carter has two children and has been working two jobs. He also had an infant child die, which may have been a factor in his criminal conduct, Degnan said.

“This is not the kind of reaction that makes any kind of sense at all (to losing a child),” Punch said.

• In another case, Maja L. Pugh, 19, of Lockport pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. She admitted to using meth at an Albion apartment on April 19. As part of a plea deal she will face no more than a year in jail when she is sentenced on Nov. 28.

Thomas Torpey sentenced to 1 ½ to 3 years for smuggling painkillers into women’s prison at Albion

ALBION – A Rochester man who was released in 2008 after spending 23 years in prison for second-degree murder is going back to prison for smuggling painkillers into the Albion Correctional Facility.

Thomas Torpey, 69, was sentenced to 1 ½ to 3 years in state prison this afternoon by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch. He pleaded guilty to promoting prison contraband in the first degree.

Thomas Torpey

Torpey was arrested on Aug. 23, 2015 by State Police. He admitted to bringing drugs to the women’s prison for Ashley Sizemore, who is serving a 42-month sentence for an arson in February 2014 at the Spencerport residence of a former Irondequoit police officer.

Sizemore, 32, was Torpey’s girlfriend. Torpey’s attorney Nathan Pace said today that Torpey has stayed out of trouble since being released from Attica Correctional Facility in 2008, except for bringing the painkillers to Sizemore.

Pace said she was begging Torpey for the medication. Pace said Torpey “has the worst criminal record imaginable,” but had made a change since being released eight years ago.

Torpey, a former bodyguard for a Mafia crime boss, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1985 for ordering the killing of a rival mobster in December 1981. Torpey declined to speak during his sentencing this afternoon in Orleans County Court.

“You certainly have a long criminal career,” Punch told Torpey. “What a bad way to go out.”

The judge urged Torpey to serve the sentence and then commit to obeying the law when he is released.

“You’ve certainly had quite a life of violating other people’s rights,” the judge said.

ALBION – A Rochester man was sentenced to 4 years in state prison on Wednesday after he admitted in a previous court appearance to selling cocaine to an undercover informant from Orleans County.

Alexander J. DeHoyos, 34, was given the maximum sentence by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch after DeHoyos pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, but he balked at paying $200 in restitution to the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task, which was the buy money for the cocaine. Punch had a restitution hearing on Wednesday and decided DeHoyos should pay the $200.

DeHoyos also was sent to prison in March after being sentenced in Monroe County for second-degree assault.

In other cases in County Court:

• A Gaines resident was arraigned for conspiracy in the fifth degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. John P. Klotzbach, 66, of 13563 Ridge Rd., was charged on May 20 following an investigation by the Task Force, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

Klotzbach allegedly attempted to purchase a shotgun and refused to complete the required ATF form 4473 for the federal background check and was subsequently denied the purchase.

Several days later, a female acquaintance allegedly went into the gun store and wanted to purchase the same gun that Klotzbach attempted to buy. The gun store owner became suspicious when he noticed the woman was riding in the same vehicle as Klotzbach, as well as attempting to purchase the same gun that Klotzbach wanted. The store owner then contacted law enforcement authorities.

Judge Punch continued bail at $10,000 for Klotzbach during the arraignment on Monday. He already posted that bail at Town Court.

• Christopher Aldrich, 47, of 206 West Ave., Albion, was arraigned for violation of probation after he was arrested on July 24 for driving while intoxicated in Albion.

• Frank Ranallo Jr., 46, of Chestnut Street in Medina was arraigned on second-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and fourth-degree criminal mischief. He allegedly entered a house on Salt Words Road on June 24 and took two guns and damaged a door.

Posted 23 August 2016

MEDINA – Three people who were arrested July 6 after an investigation into the sale and distribution of crack cocaine in Medina all appeared in Orleans County Court on Monday.

The following were arraigned for third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance: Erika H. Poole, 36, of Salt Works Road in Medina; Calvin S. Carver, 27, of Salt Works Road in Medina; and Harold D. Hill Jr., 38, of Pine Street in Lockport.

Poole faces the additional charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
The three are currently inmates in the Orleans County Jail on $50,000 bail. Carver will be fully arraigned after completing paperwork to see if he qualifies for the public defender’s office and assigned counsel.

Law enforcement, as part of the investigation, seized more than 20 grams of crack cocaine, cash, two shotguns and other drug paraphernalia.

The Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, the Medina Police Department, and the New York State Division of Parole worked together in the investigation.

Poole and Carver are also being held on parole warrants issued by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

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ALBION – A Medina man who was arrested about a year ago on drug and weapons charges pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court today and will face no more than 4 years in prison as part of a plea deal.

Terry Holloway Jr., 33, pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. The weapons charge normally carries a maximum 4 to 7 years in state prison and the drug charge normally has a maximum of 1 ½ to 8 years in prison.

Holloway admitted in court he sold cocaine in Albion on June 13, 2015. He also admitted to having a rifle.

Holloway has a previous felony conviction. He has been in jail for nearly 13 months. He will be sentenced at 2 p.m. on Oct. 31.

In other cases in County Court, two people also pleaded guilty to crimes and have been accepted into Drug Court. If they can stay off drugs and avoid other crimes, Judge James Punch said he would reduce the charges to misdemeanors and not sentence them to jail. However, if they break laws, they could face the maximum for their felony crimes, Punch said.

• Brandi Ralph, 32, of Yates Center Road in Lyndonville pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and petit larceny. The burglary charge normally carries a maximum of up to 7 years in state prison.

She admitted she entered a garage on April 18 and stole tools. Ralph said was looking for something she could take and sell to feed her drug addiction.

If she completes Drug Court, Judge Punch said the burglary charge would be removed and she would instead be charged only with petit larceny.

Ralph is to enroll in an in-patient drug-treatment program.

“I hope you realize what this drug can do,” Punch said in court. “It kills a lot of people in our community and I don’t want you to be one of them.”

• Allen E. Snook, 33, of Medina pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, which normally carries a maximum of 2 ½ years in state prison.

He was arrested in May with morphine. If he completes Drug Court, which for him includes drug treatment through the Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Punch said the felony charge would become a misdemeanor.

Ralph and Snook both will have regular compliance checks with the judge as an incentive to stay away from drugs.

ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to three years in state prison by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch.

Richard M. Fidanza, 39, pleaded guilty on June 6 to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. He admitted he sold suboxone on Oct. 1, 2015.

Fidanza could have faced a maximum of four years in state prison as a second felony offender. He had a previous felony – fourth-degree grand larceny in Wyoming County.

Judge Punch gave him three years in prison, and said he would recommend a drug treatment program for Fidanza in prison.

Fidanza was ordered to pay $120 in restitution to the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, plus a $325 court surcharge and $50 DNA fee.

In other cases today:
• A Rochester man was sentenced to 1 ½ years in prison after he was arrested in December in the Rite Aid parking lot in Medina for drug crimes.

Maurice D. Jacobs, 37, has already been in the county jail for eight months. His attorney, Nathan Pace, asked the judge for a sentence of six months in jail and 5 years probation.

Pace said Jacobs went 12 years without getting into trouble, until he recently was pulled into drug crimes. Jacobs was dating a woman who was a drug addict, and that relationship led to Jacobs’ recent problems, Pace said.

Punch said Jacobs has been on probation twice before and has a long criminal history. His crimes in Orleans involved multiple sales, the judge said. He ordered Jacobs to pay $260 in restitution to the Task Force, a $325 court surcharge and $50 DNA fee.

• Michael Borrero, 17, of Washington Street in Albion pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree burglary and could face up to a year in jail when he is sentenced at 2 p.m. on Oct. 24.

Borrero in court today admitted to entering The Vape Shop when it was closed and stealing a laptop from the business on East Bank Street.

His co-defendant was offered a similar plea deal, except with a longer sentence. Borreror is a first-time offender, while his co-defendant has other charges in his past.

Zachary A. Deville, 22, of Brown Street in Albion could face up to two years in state prison as part of a plea offer. Deville wanted two weeks to consider the offer. His attorney asked the judge why Deville’s sentence could be up to two years, when Borrero’s is up to a year in jail.

“If he had a a clean record maybe he would have got the same offer,” Punch said.

Deville is due back in court on Aug. 29 to decide whether to take the plea offer or go to trial for charges of third-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny, and two counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree.

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ROCHESTER – A Holley English teacher has been arrested for child pornography, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today.

Steven Choi, 41, of Rochester was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography.

The receipt of child pornography charge carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, while the possession of child pornography charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force identified the defendant accessing child pornography online. A forensic examination of that computer recovered sexually explicit photographs of prepubescent girls.

Choi made an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman. He is due back in federal court for a status hearing on August 12, 2016 at 10:30 a.m.

The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen. The task force includes the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Rochester Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, and the Greece Police Department.

Holley Central School issued this statement to WROC-TV in Rochester: “The Holley Central School District was informed by law enforcement officials about the arrest of a district employee. This employee is not currently involved in any district programs or activities during summer recess. The employee will be banned from all district grounds. The district will cooperate fully with law enforcement and seek disciplinary action as appropriate.”