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Press Release

Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty To Gun Charge

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051
 
BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Filip Caruso, 50, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm 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. Attorneys Caleb J. Petzoldt and George C. Burgasser, who are handling the case, stated that on February 25, 2014, a vehicle being driven by the defendant was stopped on South Division St. in the City of Buffalo. As he was being pulled over, Caruso handed a fully loaded .32 caliber revolver to a passenger riding in the car to evade detection. Officers noticed the defendant was wearing a holster which would fit the handgun. Caruso then asked the passenger to lie to a Federal Grand Jury about his possession of the revolver.   

The plea comes as jury selection was about to begin in the defendant’s trial.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda. The task force 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. 

Sentencing is scheduled for February 22, 2016 at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.

Updated November 18, 2015