Dustin Post

A Silver Creek man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing children.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said 27-year old Dustin Post was sentenced Monday by County Court Judge David Foley to a state prison sentence amounting to 125 years to life to run consecutive to the Federal sentence Post is currently serving.

This follows Post’s conviction of six counts of Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child.

He is already serving a 50 year sentence for producing and possessing child pornography after pleading guilty to the crimes in U.S. District Court in 2022.

Schmidt acknowledged the work of the Child Advocacy Program, saying in a statement, “Without this group of dedicated counselors, forensic interviewers and professionals who work hand-in-hand with law enforcement, we could have never developed the evidence here and maintained the integrity of the case despite numerous hurdles, including the pandemic and shutdown.”

Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville

An indictment has been filed in the shooting death of an Ellicott man.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said 18-year old Tucker Richard has been indicted on the charge of 2nd Degree Murder in connection with the shooting death of 57 year old Scott Blake on January 6th in the Town of Ellicott.

Richard was arraigned in County Court Tuesday morning by Judge David Foley, who set bail in the amounts of $2.5 million cash or $5 million property bond.

He remains in the Chautauqua County Jail and is being represented by the Public Defender’s Office. Richard is due back in court on March 31st for a discovery conference.

Sean McIlveen

A Jamestown man has been sentenced to time in state prison for stabbing his neighbor.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Sean McIlveen was sentenced by County Court Judge David Foley to four years in state prison plus five years post release supervision after being convicted of 2nd Degree Assault.

McIlveen pled guilty to the assault charge on September 8, 2022 in County court after being charged by Jamestown Police in September 2021 for stabbing his neighbor with a knife.

Chautauqua County Court Judge Dave Foley leads a ceremonial oath of office for 23rd Congressional District Congressman-Elect Nick Langworthy. Langworthy’s daughter, Madeline, holds the Bible for the oath.

Congressman-Elect Nick Langworthy returned to his alma mater of Pine Valley Central School for a ceremonial swearing in event Wednesday evening.

Langworthy stood with his young daughter, Madeline, as Chautauqua County Court Judge Dave Foley led him through his Oath of Office in front of a crowd of supporters.

Langworthy said the gravity of the moment of taking the oath in the high school he graduated from 23 years ago is not lost on him, “When I think back to my younger self and the values and work ethic that were instilled in me by teachers, and faculty, and coaches right here at Pine Valley and I’m reminded by how lucky I was to come of age in this building, in this school district, in this great small town. This is the building where my dreams began to take shape. Where my passion for service and my drive to do my part to make this world a better place was formed.”

In his remarks, he cited working on inflation, strengthening the workforce, securing the border, and working on supply chain issues.

He said working on energy policy will be his first priority, especially in the aftermath of the blizzard in Buffalo, “How unfortunate of a circumstances could we have been in if that radical left environmental agenda had abolished natural gas use in New York or abolished wood heating in New York? What if that had been on line during this blizzard with sub-zero windchill, with no end in sight of power coming on for some people with impassable roads? Our death toll would be staggering.”

Langworthy said he hopes to get a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, but that won’t be known until mid to late-January.

Langworthy will be officially sworn in as the representative for the 23rd Congressional District in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Randall Rolison

The Jamestown man involved in a fatal hit and run accident in Jamestown last December has been involved in another fatal car accident in the town of Arkwright.

State Police said 59-year old Randall Rolison was the driver of the car that went through a stop sign at the intersection of State Route 83 and Center Road, hitting the car driven by 71-year old Gary Kraemer of South Dayton on Saturday night. The collision caused his passenger, 71-year old Linda Kraemer, to be ejected from the car. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kraemer, Rolison, and passengers in his vehicle were taken to area hospitals for non-life threatening injuries.

Rolison had previously been indicted by a Chautauqua County Grand Jury on a manslaughter charges after striking and killing 15-year old Lexy Hughan on December 31, 2021 with a commercial vehicle. He also is charged with three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt issued a statement saying his office is “pursuing a number of options available under the law for addressing the current situation, including seeking the revocation of Mr. Rolison’s bail so that he can be jailed pending trial on the indicted cases. We are also actively working to develop information and evidence arising from Saturday’s accident which may lead us to file new charges against Mr. Rolison.

Schmidt criticized County Court Judge David Foley in his statement for reducing the amount of requested bail for Rolison on all charges from $500,000 cash or $1 million property bond to a total of $85,000 cash or $170,000 property bond. Rolison was able to make bail and was released at that time.

Jonathan Comacho-Monge

A Jamestown man has been arrested for fatally shooting another Jamestown man last October.

The Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office said 23-year old Jonathan Comacho-Monge has been arraigned on one count of 2nd Degree Murder in the death of 46-year old Angel Pacheco of 60 Water Street.

County Judge Dave Foley set bail at $250,000 cash or $500,000 property bond.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt said due to Camacho-Monge being held in Pennsylvania on a felony charge, the arraignment on this indictment was delayed by six months.

Camocho-Monge is due back in court on November 14.

Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville

A protection order has been granted in Salman Rushdie stabbing case.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt issued a statement saying County Court Judge David Foley approved the prosecution’s request to preserve the confidentiality, and limit access to the identities, and of the factual witnesses in this case.

Foley also approved a request by the District Attorney for an extension of time to provide the defense with discoverable materials under New York’s reformed discovery laws. The prosecution now has 60 days from September 21 to provide those disclosures to the defense.

Hadi Matar remains in the County Jail on charges of attempted murder of author, Rushdie, after being accused of stabbing him and another speaker at a lecture at Chautauqua Institution in August.

Kevin Roldan-Pantojas

A Jamestown man has been charged in the drive-by shooting death of Jesus Batista-Perez on August 19 on Prendergast Avenue in Jamestown.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced that 22-year old Kevin Roldan-Pantojas was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on a five-count indictment in Chautauqua County Court. Judge David Foley set bail at $1 million cash or $2 million property bond.

Roldan-Pantojas has been charged with 2nd Degree Murder, 2nd Degree Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, 2nd Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, and tampering with physical evidence.

He is due back in court on October 24 for a Discovery Conference.

Jason Schmidt

The Chautauqua County District Attorney says he needs more time to review evidence in the case against the man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie.

DA Jason Schmidt, Public Defender Ned Barone, and the man accused in the case, Hadi Matar, were in Chautauqua County Court for a discovery conference Wednesday.

Schmidt told Judge Dave Foley that the prosecution was still reviewing over 30,000 files from the State Police as part of its investigation. In a statement to media, Schmidt said due to this “exceptionally voluminous” amount of materials the prosecution is afforded an additional 30 days to meet its obligation without making a motion in court.

Under New York’s discovery laws, the prosecution is required to comply with disclosure obligations within 20 days after a defendant is arraigned on an indictment.

All parties will appear in court again on Tuesday, September 13. Schmidt stated he plans to request a limit on who is allowed to review material disclosed ahead of trial.

Hadi Matar (Photo Courtesy of Chautauqua County Jail)

The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie last week at Chautauqua Institution pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges on Thursday and was held without bail.

24-year old Hadi Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury that charged him with one count of second-degree attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault.

Judge Dave Foley issed a temporary order of protection for Matar to have no contact with Rushdie and Henry Reese, who also was injured in last week’s attack. He also ordered all lawyers to not discuss the case in the media. He said he would consider Public Defender Ned Barone‘s request to release Matar on bail.

Barone requested a gag order on all parties, citing concern that high media attention could taint perspective jurors, “The more things are leaked or the more things are spread out there is going to influence the jurors in this county and the opinions they’re forming. So, one of the constitutional rights for anybody, I’m not talking about Mr. Matar, anyone accused of a crime is entitled to a fair trial. I made this arguement in the court room and that is something that is the cornerstone of our society.”

Foley is expected to rule further on the gag order at a later date.

Matar will return to court at 9:00 a.m., September 7 for an evidence discovery conference.