Botello

ALBION – A Kendall man accused of attempted murder of a state trooper requested that Orleans County Court Judge James Punch recuse himself from the case due to his past history in court with the defendant.

Carlos Botello, 42, has a lengthy criminal history that dates back to when Punch was district attorney. Punch has been the county court judge for 23 years.

Botello was charged with second-degree attempted murder of a state trooper following a traffic stop on Sept. 3. Botello was stopped by Trooper Dan Metz. Botello allegedly attempted to back over the trooper. Metz avoided being struck, but Borello smashed into a state police vehicle.

Botello then fled the scene by vehicle. Metz pursued the suspect until Botello entered into a farmer’s field and became disabled, police reported.

Punch said Botello’s paperwork filed with the court, seeking a recusal from the judge, was “gibberish” and “gobbledygook” that didn’t make a lot of sense.

But the judge said he would consider the substance of the issue, whether his past history with Botello warrants a recusal. But only if Botello consults with his attorney Nathan Pace and makes a strong case for recusal.

Botello in court today said Punch was DA and prosecuted him in a different matter in the 1980s.

“The time has long since dissipated if there is any position of conflict,” Punch responded to Botello.

Punch was the judge in another high-profile case with Botello in 1994. Botello was 23 when he fired six rounds into the home of Deputy Herb McClellan in Kendall.

He has been in and out of the court system several times. In one court appearance, Botello said the judge declared in court if Botello was ever in front of him again, the judge would put him away in prison for a long time. Botello said that is grounds for Punch to recuse himself.

Punch said he wants to see the transcripts from that sentencing, and if he made that statement to Botello, Punch said he would “look at it” and consider the request for recusal.

But Punch said he doubts he would recuse himself.

“I feel I can be fair and impartial,” Punch said in court.

He gave Botello and Pace until Jan. 6 to file a motion for recusal.

Punch said he rarely recuses himself.

“Mr. Botello, I’m the only judge in this county,” Punch said. “I can’t just send it across the hall. I’m only going to recuse when I have to recuse.”

Elyse Huffer

ALBION – The driver of the getaway car in a July 2 bank robbery in Albion pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with the stipulation she serve no more than five years in state prison.

Elyse A. Hoffer, 22, of Rochester will be sentenced by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch on March 3. If he sentences her to more than five years, she can withdraw her plea. She made the plea on Wednesday.

“She was aiding and abetting,” District Attorney Joe Cardone said about Huffer and her role in the robbery. “She drove him there. She knew that.”

Huffer’s boyfriend Jeremy Rothmund, 30, pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree robbery in Orleans County Court today. The Rochester man will be sentenced to no more than 15 years in state prison as part of a plea deal. He will be sentenced on March 3.

Rothmund and Huffer face charges for additional robberies in Monroe County.

In an Oct. 21 court appearance, Rothmund confessed in court that he robbed the Bank of America in Albion on July 2, showing up at the bank wearing a mask and threatening a clerk with a bomb that later was discovered to be fake.

Rothmund said he told Huffer to park behind the Freeze-Dry building on Route 31 near the railroad tracks while he went to buy drugs. Rothmund returned with a bag full of $18,000. He said he told Huffer to drive fast out of town. (The two were later stopped and arrested in Holley after a resident identified them in Albion and called the police.)

Rothmund in court first said Huffer didn’t realize he was robbing banks, but he said on Monday that she knew what he was doing.

Rothmund and Huffer both faced a maximum of 20 years in state prison but through the pleas will have reduced sentences.

Theresa Nichols

ALBION – An Albion woman pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court on Monday to selling hydrocodone and other prescription narcotics.

Theresa S. Nichols, 51, of 209 North Main St. could face up to four years in state prison after she pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.

As part of the plea, Nichols’ maximum prison sentence will be reduced from 5 ½ years to four. She was charged on Oct. 1 with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, two counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.

Nichols has a prior criminal history. She admitted in court to selling hydrocodone to an undercover police officer.

Nichols was on social services and disability. She was selling prescription narcotics to supplement her income, her attorney Michael O’Keefe told County Court Judge James Punch.

She also faces a charge of felony welfare fraud in the third degree.

She remains in county jail on $25,000 bail. Judge Punch set a Feb. 24 sentencing for Nichols.

Her two sons also face numerous counts of criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. The sons, along with their mother, were allegedly selling hydrocodone and tramadol pills, which were prescribed to the mother.

Joshua Nichols, 26, of 209 North Main St. appeared in county court on Monday. He was initially assigned a public defender, but Punch said Nichols earns too much money to qualify. He gave Nichols until Monday to hire an attorney.

In other cases in county court on Monday:

A Rochester woman was sentenced to four months of weekends in jail for selling cocaine.

Raquel T. Torrez, 34, of 256 Ave. D, Rochester was arrested on June 19 and charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. She pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Torrez is a cancer survivor who cares for five children, including a son with disabilities.

“I know you’re not the kingpin behind a drug operation, but you were fully involved,” Punch said during sentencing.

The judge was going to revoke her driver’s license, but issued a hardship waiver so she can drive to and from jail and take her son to physical therapy.

A Rochester woman was sentenced to a year in the county jail for felony driving while intoxicated.

Julie M. Makowski, 50, took a breath test two hours after being arrested on March 31 and registered a 0.15 blood alcohol content, nearly double the legal limit for driving drunk.

Punch said she also must install an interlock ignition device, which checks her BAC, on any vehicle she drives in the future. Her license to drive was revoked for a year.

An Appleton woman appeared in court on charges of third-degree grand larceny.

Dawn Papazian allegedly stole a horse trailer from Lynn-Ette and Sons farm in Kent. Judge Punch set $1,000 bail for Papazian, who is to reappear in court on Dec. 23 at 2:30 p.m.

Rothmund in his July mugshot

ALBION – Jeremy Rothmund, 30, pleaded guilty today to first-degree robbery in Orleans County Court today. The Rochester man will be sentenced to no more than 15 years in state prison as part of a plea deal.

He will be sentenced by Judge James Punch on March 3 at 2 p.m.

In an Oct. 21 court appearance, Rothmund confessed in court that he robbed the Bank of America in Albion on July 2, showing up at the bank wearing a mask and threatening a clerk with a bomb that later was discovered to be fake.

Rothmund faced a maximum of 20 years in state prison. The plea reduces the max to 15 years.

The plea deal doesn’t include Rothmund’s admitted role with two other bank robberies in the town of Greece. Rothmund on Oct. 16 also injured a corrections officer in the county jail. The plea for the Albion robbery doesn’t include that incident, either.

In the October court appearance, Rothmund said his girlfriend, Elyse A. Hoffer, didn’t know he was robbing banks when she drove him to the locations. Rothmund said he told her to park behind the Freeze-Dry building on Route 31 near the railroad tracks while he went to buy drugs in Albion on July 2.

Rothmund returned with a bag full of $18,000. He said he told Huffer to drive fast out of town. (The two were later stopped and arrested in Holley after a resident identified them in Albion and called the police.)

Punch on Oct. 21 questioned Rothmund about the claim that Huffer didn’t know she was driving the getaway car from a robbery. Rothmund told the judge she didn’t know beforehand if he was robbing a bank, but she later realized it.

Rothmund in court today said Huffer did aid him in the robberies.

John Butler

ALBION – A Lockport man faces drug charges after police seized 43 bags of crack cocaine on Friday, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force is reporting.

John H. Butler, 32, of 5794 Sweetwood Drive, Apt. G was charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, and one count of aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree.

The Task Force worked with Albion village police and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department to execute a search warrant on Butler’s vehicle, which was parked at 131 South Main St. in the American Legion’s lot.

Police seized 43 bags of crack cocaine from the vehicle. The Niagara County Drug Task Force and Niagara County Sheriff’s Department also searched Butler’s apartment in Lockport.

Butler was arraigned in the Town of Albion Court by Justice Kevin Howard. Butler was sent to county jail with no bail due to his previous criminal history. He is to return to Town Court on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

The investigation is still ongoing and further charges and arrests are pending.

ALBION – A Holley resident was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison on Monday after breaking into a building and stealing last year.

Michael Redick, 27, of North Main Street had two prior petty larceny charges before he was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary, petty larceny and criminal mischief in the fourth degree. He broke into a building on Ridge Road on Feb. 2 2012.

He pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 to attempted burglary in the third degree. Orleans County Court Judge James Punch gave Redick the maximum sentence as part of the plea.

Redick apologized in court for the crime.

“I had no right to take from others,” he said.

Redick said he wanted a chance to get a job and take care of his family.

Punch said the court system has given Redick several chances to live a productive life. But Redick’s drug use has led him to “all sorts of crime and chaos,” Punch said.

“I can’t turn you lose on the public,” the judge said at sentencing. “You’ve been given several opportunities to deal with the problem.”

In another case in court, a former inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility, a medium-security men’s state prison, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and will spend 5 more years in state prison for assaulting another inmate.

Alejandro Sanchez, now an inmate at Attica Correctional Facility, pleaded guilty in court on Monday. He used a razor to slice another inmate in the neck on March 29, 2012.

Sanchez, through an interpreter, said he was acting in self defense. But District Attorney Joe Cardone said the other inmate did not have a weapon. Cardone said it was an unprovoked attack that left the other inmate with a 5-inch laceration in his neck and ongoing pain.

Sanchez could have gone to trial, but would have faced up to 7 years in additional prison time if found guilty. By pleading guilty, he faces 5 more years in prison. He will be sentenced on March 10.

Albion man also charged with armed robbery in February

Morris Taylor

ALBION – Morris Taylor, an Albion man who already faces charges for an armed robbery in February, was arraigned in Orleans County Court today on first-degree rape, forcible compulsion rape, and criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance, both in the third degree.

Judge James Punch set bail for Taylor at $75,000. He is due back in court on Dec. 23 at 2 p.m.

Taylor, 23, of 239 East State St. is a former state track champion for Albion. He won the 400 meters in 2008.

On Feb. 28, he allegedly was armed with a knife and robbed a pizza delivery person outside Mark’s Pizzeria in Albion. After the robbery, Taylor allegedly left the area with $300.

The rape and drug charges are unrelated to the robbery and will be prosecuted separately, District Attorney Joe Cardone said.

ALBION A Medina man facing 24 counts, including burglary and grand larceny, was arraigned in Orleans County Court today by Judge James Punch, who set bail at $100,000.

Christopher Hollenbeck, 27, allegedly broke into a residence on Mill Road in Ridgeway in June. He is accused of taking nine guns, including several hand guns.

State police say he scratched off the serial numbers on some of the guns, which he then sold with help from his girlfriend Rebecca Bischoff, 26, of Medina.

Punch assigned the public defender for Hollenbeck, who said he isn’t working but would be interviewing for a job.

The District Attorney’s Office requested bail be set at $10,000, but Punch made it higher because the charges against Hollenbeck “are profoundly serious.”

“It looks like you were preparing for Armageddon,” Punch told Hollenbeck. “That’s why I’m setting bail where I’m setting it.”

Hollenbeck faces numerous charges, including one count of second-degree burglary, one count of fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing firearms, three counts of defacing weapons, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, nine counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and five counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree.

Bischoff was arraigned in County Court last week on four counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and two counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree.

ALBION – A jury acquitted two business owners of arson on Friday in a trial that lasted more than a week in Orleans County Court.

David Wright, 32, and Sara Harris, 31, were charged with third-degree arson and fourth-degree criminal mischief. The Holley residents faced up to 15 years in state prison.

They owned The Shop, a tobacco-related business at 158 Hamilton St. The site burned on Aug. 13, 2012. The building suffered extensive water and fire damage. Wright and Harris were accused of setting the fire for insurance money.

But a jury of their peers decided the fire, which started in the building’s office, wasn’t set by the business owners.

ALBION – A village resident was sentenced to six months in jail and five years on Probation for selling prescription drug narcotics from his West Academy Street home.

Vance R. DeRoller, 45, faced a maximum sentence of 5 ½ years in state prison when he was charged with 21 counts of either criminal sale or criminal possession of a controlled substance after being arrested in June.

DeRoller sold hydrocodone pills that were mixed with acetaminophen, a pain reliever. Hydrocodone and acetaminophen combined are considered a narcotic.

DeRoller pleaded guilty in August to fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Kendall man will be sentenced to no more than 15 years

ALBION – A Kendall resident could be sentenced to up to 15 years in state prison for shooting his wife and then setting his house on fire.

Dennis Buehler, 64, pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court today to second-degree attempted murder and third-degree arson.

He could have faced 25 years in prison for attempted murder, plus additional time for third-degree arson. His plea today sets the maximum sentence for both crimes at 15 years. He will be sentenced Jan. 27.

Buehler said in court today that he shot his wife Linda with a shotgun on March 4.

“Your intent was to kill her?” Orleans County Court Judge James Punch asked Buehler in court.

“Absolutely,” he replied.

After she was shot in the shoulder, Mrs. Buehler then fled the house, which Buehler then set on fire with propane. The house at 923 Peter Smith Rd. was destroyed by the blaze.

Buehler said he wasn’t intoxicated when he committed the crimes.

He will remain in the county jail without bail until the sentencing.

Albion resident arraigned after Clarendon crash

ALBION A Ridgeway resident could spend up to a year in jail after he pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court to possessing more than 2 ounces of marijuana.

Jacob J. Callara, 51, of 3643 Horan Rd., apartment 2, was charged last February after police seized more than 300 marijuana plants. Two other men were arrested in the raid.

Callara has a light criminal history, Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone said on Monday after Callara pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree charge of marijuana possession.

Callara will be sentenced on Jan. 6. He could spend up to a year in jail and could be on Probation for three years.

In another case on Monday, Orleans County Court Judge James Punch set $25,000 bail for Brandon Kirby, 26, of Albion. He faces numerous charges after a crash on Oct. 23 in Clarendon when he allegedly crossed Mansfield Road, onto private property and struck a building owned by Acme Powerwashing Inc., of Holley.

Kirby was charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd Degree, Operating a Vehicle Without an Ignition Inter-Lock Device, Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Incident, and Failure to Stop for a Stop Sign.

He was arraigned in county court on Monday for violating his probation. He will be represented by the public defender.

Jeffrey Paul is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and insurance fraud

ALBION – The case against Jeffrey Paul will finally go to trial next week. Paul, 40, of Holley is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and insurance fraud.

He was supposed to go to trial in July. But Paul claimed a series of medications prevented him from thinking clearly, and unable to help with his defense during the trial. That prompted a delay in his trial.

In August, Orleans County Court Judge James Punch had Paul committed to a psychiatric facility in Syracuse for up to a year. The judge cited Paul’s “profound problems.” If Paul’s condition improved, he could stand trial, Punch said in August.

Paul’s condition did improve. He was released from the facility last month. He was in court in October and on Monday with his attorney Larry Koss for appearances before the judge.

However, Paul told the judge he switched attorneys as of Monday. Judge Punch told Paul the new attorney needs to be ready for Nov. 13 because that is when the trial is set to start.

“You’re obviously trying to delay these proceedings,” Punch told Paul in court on Monday. “You have for some time now.”

Paul and his father David allegedly stole two backhoes, a box truck and a car and buried some of it on David Paul’s property on the Monroe-Orleans Countyline Road. David Paul, 68, was sentenced to a year in the county jail in January.

Hoffer

ALBION – The girlfriend of a bank robber has been offered a deal that could result in up to 25 years in state prison.

Elyse A. Hoffer, 22, of Rochester allegedly drove the getaway car when her boyfriend Jeremy J. Rothmund robbed the Bank of America in Albion on July 2. Rothmund went into the bank with a false bomb. He robbed the bank of $18,000.

Hoffer had the getaway car behind Freeze-Dry Foods near the railroad tracks. The couple was spotted by an Albion resident who gave the vehicle ID to police. The two were stopped and arrested in Holley.

Rothmund confessed to the crime during an Oct. 21 court appearance at the Orleans County Courthouse. Both he and Hoffer have been charged with first-degree robbery. They also face charges for two bank robberies in the town of Greece.

Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone has offered a plea deal to Hoffer that she face one sentence, rather than three sentences of up to 25 years each. If she was prosecuted for all three, with the sentences added up, she could face up to 75 in state prison.

Cardone has offered that she be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years for the three robberies. Hoffer, who appeared in county court today, wants to talk over the deal with her attorney. Cardone will also confer with the District Attorney’s Office in Monroe County about the case.

Cardone told Orleans County Court Judge James Punch that as part of the plea deal, Hoffer’s cooperation would be needed as the DA prosecutes Rothmund.

“We’re just asking for the truth, your honor,” Cardone told Judge Punch.

ALBION – The mother of an inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility appeared in court today for the first time and was sent to the county jail on $25,000 bail.

Tracey Stratton, 51, of Vermont allegedly mailed her son drugs. County Court Judge James Punch set her bail at $25,000. He also assigned her the public defender’s office. She will be arraigned on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. once she has an attorney assigned to her case.

Stratton has been charged with promoting prison contraband in the first degree and criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree.

She allegedly mailed the drugs to her son, Jason Seifert, 28. He has been at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion since April 23, 2010. He was sent to prison after being convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.