DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of New York

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
William J. Hochul, Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Schuele Boys Gang Associate Pleads Guilty to G Charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Demetrius Holmes, 24, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a weapon before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who is handling the case, stated that on July 23, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence of Holmes on Schuele St. in Buffalo. Officers recovered a 20 gauge shotgun. The defendant was previously convicted on a state robbery charge which prevented him from legally possessing a firearm.

Holmes was an associate of the Schuele Boys Gang, which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo. The gang is believed to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Holmes was arrested along with 15 other Schuele Boys Gang members and associates in July 2014. He is the fourth to be convicted. On March 24, 2015, an additional seven members and associates were indicted. Four other Schuele Boys members were indicted separately.  

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force which includes representatives of the Amherst Police Department; the Buffalo Police Department; U.S. Border Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Cheektowaga Police Department; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department; the Hamburg Police Department; the Lancaster Police Department; the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police; the New York State Department of Correctional Services; the New York State Police; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. Additional assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Marshal Service, the Lackawanna Police Department, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department.   

Sentencing is scheduled for September 4, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.

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New York Field Division