BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Damon Hunter, 25, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to false declarations before grand jury, before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The prison sentence may be imposed consecutively to a seven-year New York State term of incarceration that Hunter is currently serving for firearm possession.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who is handling the case, stated that the case involved two shootings on the East Side of Buffalo, the murder of Schuele Boys Gang associate Walter Davison on August 26, 2012, and the murder of Quincy Balance and attempted murder of the defendant on August 30, 2012. It is alleged that members of the Schuele Boys Gang believed that Balance and Hunter were involved in the murder of Walter Davison and as a result committed their own fatal and near fatal violence four days later.

During the federal grand jury investigation that has resulted in the indictments of 28 Schuele Boys Gang members and associates, Hunter was subpoenaed to testify about the August 30 shooting. Despite the murder of his friend and his own personal involvement as a victim in the event, Hunter lied about his knowledge of the shooter.

Despite Hunter’s actions, the grand jury eventually indicted Roderick Arrington for the August 30, 2012, shooting.

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.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 21, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.