Buffalo Man Sentenced For Lying To The Federal Grand Jury In The Bailey Boys Investigation

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Michael Acoff, 24, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of perjury for lying to the grand jury in the connection with the Baily Boys investigation, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce, who handled the case, stated that Acoff told a federal grand jury that he had firsthand knowledge of the January 19, 2011 murder of Harold McCain. The defendant told the grand jury that he received a telephone call from McCain’s alleged killer following the murder asking the defendant to pick him up. Acoff further claimed that he did in fact pick up the alleged killer who then provided Acoff with details of the murder which Acoff then repeated for the grand jury as though he had first-hand knowledge of them. In pleading guilty, Acoff had admitted that he never received a call from the alleged killer, did not pick him up and did not have conversations regarding the murder of Harold McCain, but rather had learned the details from a third party.

Bailey Boys Gang member Tyrone Brown was indicted, along with six other members and associates, on August 1, 2012. The indictment alleged that Brown murdered Harold McCain in January 2011.

The sentencing is the result of an ongoing investigation on the part of the United States Attorney’s Office in close cooperation with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, and the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Askey.