NIAGARA POLICE & COURTS

'One-man crime wave' gets 5 years in prison

LOCKPORT -- A Niagara Falls man dubbed "a one-man crime wave" by Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for his guilty plea to second-degree burglary.

Devan (CQ) A. Hicks, 19, of Fourth Street, was indicted for his role in three house burglaries last summer. His Feb. 19 plea bargain came as Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Scalzo threatened to have Hicks indicted for more burglaries and a statutory rape.

Scalzo said videotape of one burglary showed Hicks carrying a television set and "wearing a backpack that appeared to be overflowing with property."

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Drunken go-kart driver enters guilty pleas

LOCKPORT -- A Lewiston man who was arrested April 18 for drunken-driving with a go-kart down Center Street in that village pleadedguilty to two misdemeanors and a probation violation Thursday inNiagara County Court.

Ronald E. Voit, 22, of Fuller Place, admitted to misdemeanor DWI and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation. The incident also constituted a violation of probation on a previous felony DWI conviction. Voit could receive up to four years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 4 by Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.

Voit had just left the Pub Bar and Restaurant about 2 a.m. when police pursued him and stopped him at Eighth and Onondaga streets and measured his blood alcohol content at .22 percent.

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'Cocky little thug' sentenced in holdup

LOCKPORT -- Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza called a Buffalo man a "cocky little thug" Friday as she sentenced him to seven years in prison for his role in an armed robbery in Sanborn last year.

Jeffrey C. Fleischer, 20, of West Avenue, had pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree robbery for pointing a shotgun at the head of another Buffalo man in a car at Smokin' Joe's gas station on Saunders Settlement Road Jan. 9, 2009. The victim was robbed of $450 and a cell phone.

Co-defendant Nicholas Cortese, 20, of the Town of Tonawanda, pointed a handgun at the victim and supplied Fleischer with the shotgun, defense attorney A. Angelo DiMillo said. Cortese is serving 18 years in prison, three years for this robbery and 15 years for stabbing a Lockport cab driver in a separate incident. DiMillo called his client "a wannabe tough guy."

Sperrazza said she'd listened to recorded jailhouse phone callsin which Fleischer tried to arrange for his girlfriend to stash a broken gun in a house so Fleischer could try to convince police it was the one used in the robbery and hope for lesser charges.

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Crime Stoppers seeks paint vandal

NIAGARA FALLS -- Someone spray-painted numbers, pictures and profanity last weekend at the Masonic Temple at 5269 Van Alstyne Place.

The front door, located on south side of the Masonic Temple, and the north side of the Shiv Mandir Temple, were vandalized with red spray paint, according to Crime Stoppers. The vandalism occurred between the mornings of May 21 and last Saturday.

Police are seeking assistance from the public for anyinformation. To leave an anonymous tip or information, pleasecontact Crime Stoppers toll free at 800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Calls are not electronically recorded or traced, and CrimeStoppers does not subscribe to call display. Crime Stoppers canalso be accessed on the Internet at niagaratips.ca or throughmobile texting by sending a message to 274637 with the text readingNIAGARA and then the message.

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Guilty plea entered to two drug felonies

LOCKPORT -- A Buffalo man who was arrested last year in Niagara Falls pleaded guilty to two drug felonies Friday in Niagara County Court.

Tyshawn D. Carney, 28, of Minnesota Avenue, admitted to fifth-degree possession and attempted third-degree possession of a controlled substance. Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza could send Carney to prison for as long as eight years when he returns to court Aug. 3.

Carney was arrested June 10 in a house on Monroe Avenue inNiagara Falls. He had nearly an ounce of cocaine he intended tosell, along with 64 green tablets he thought were the party drugEcstasy.

Assistant District Attorney Susan B. Bjornholm said they turnedout to be benzylpiperazine, another type of stimulant.

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Probation violator lands back in prison

LOCKPORT -- A burglar who violated the terms of his probation wassentenced to 21/2 years in prison Thursday by Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.

Jose Rios-Baez, 35, of Fifth Street, Niagara Falls, had pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree burglary for breaking into a house on 18th Street in that city June 9, 2008.

In another Niagara Falls burglary case Thursday, Leroy L. Twitty,26, of Fourth Street, admitted to a reduced charge of attempted third-degree burglary and is to be sentenced by Murphy Aug. 5.

Twitty broke into a Spruce Avenue home April 4.