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.

ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to seven years in state prison today for second-degree rape.

Scott D. Stanley, 33, pleaded guilty to the crime during a July court appearance. He was accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in his apartment at 220 East State St. between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, 2011.

As part of a plea deal, Stanley faced two to seven years in state prison. Judge James Punch gave him the maximum sentence today. Stanley will be registered as a sex offender and could face civil confinement when his prison time is over.

Stanley is already a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most serious. He was sentenced to 22 years in state prison by a Genesee County Court judge on Aug. 1. Stanley victimized a 14-year-old girl in Albion and then in Pembroke. He also raped the girl’s 11-year-old sister in Pembroke, according to the Orleans District Attorney’s Office.

The sentence from Orleans County will run concurrent with the Genesee sentence, meaning the seven years won’t be added to 22-year sentence.

ALBION – A Medina man was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in state prison for attempted assault in the second degree.

Leo Woodrich Jr., 50, of North Street pleaded guilty to the crime. He hit his wife in the head with a baseball bat on May 30. He is a second felony offender.

He was sentenced today in Orleans County Court by Judge James Punch.

ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to state prison today for drunk driving and also for selling cocaine in the Albion area.

Felix Onofre-Rojas, 61, of 14691 Zig-Zag Rd., Albion, was charged with DWI on May 4, when he was stopped with a BAC of 0.21 percent. Onofre-Rojas has a prior DWI on June 24, 2008 in Hamlin.

Orleans County Court Judge James Punch sentenced him to 1 to 3 years in prison for the DWI charge. Onofre-Rojas also was arrested on June 20 and charged with two counts of a criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree.

He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and received 1 ½ years in state prison for the crime, time that will run concurrent with the DWI.

Patricia Nava-Chavez, 44, is married to Onofre-Rojas. She also faced several drug charges. Her attorney, Shirley Gorman, argued in court that Nava-Chavez wasn’t involved in her husband’s drug sales.

Police, however, said she was an accomplice in the activity. She pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Judge Punch today sentenced her to time served in jail. She had been in the county lock-up since June 20.

George Brown committed crimes with his children in truck

ALBION – A Medina resident was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison on Monday after he stole a truck, threatened a gas station clerk and led police on a multi-county chase.

George Brown, 36, committed the crimes last December while his children were with him.

Orleans County Court Judge James Punch said Brown’s actions in front of his children likely traumatized them. The judge said the crimes were abusive to the children.

“I’m just really sorry for what I’ve done,” Brown said in court during his sentencing.

He broke into the Orleans Ford dealership on Dec. 15, stealing a truck and then threatening a clerk at a gas station. Brown then led Medina Police and state troopers on a multi-county pursuit with his two children. He was stopped after driving over spikes deployed by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.

He pleaded guilty in August to third-degree burglary and third-degree attempted robbery. He received 2 1/3 to 7 years for the burglary and 1 1/3 to 4 years for the attempted robbery. The sentences will run concurrently or at the same time.

The judge said Brown had been “snorting bath salts,” but that didn’t excuse his conduct.

“This is a crime that cries out for punishment,” Punch said.

ALBION – An Albion man who broke into a church last January was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison for attempted robbery in the third degree.

Michael G. Andre, 23, of West Park Street broke into the Presbyterian Church in Albion on Jan. 14. He broke a window in a locked church office and stole a laptop.

Andre was ordered to pay restitution over the next 18 months. He has several prior criminal offenses, District Attorney Joe Cardone said during the sentencing on Monday.

“Drugs have ruined your life,” County Court Judge James Punch told Andre. “You’re leaving a trail of victims.”

In another case in Albion, Judge Punch sentenced a woman who violated probation by using cocaine to a year in county jail.

Dawn M. Stachewicz, 41, of Albion pleaded guilty to the crime in August, when she also confessed to possessing drug paraphernalia, which also violated her probation.