Buffalo man gets 20 years, Tonawanda man gets 25
BUFFALO MAN GOING TO PRISON FOR 20 YEARS FOR SEX TRAFFICKING MINORS
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Steven Gonzalez a/k/a Steven Hernandez, a/k/a Steve, a/k/a Stevie, a/k/a Unc, 48, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of sex trafficking by coercion, was sentenced to serve 240 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel L. Violanti, Caitlin M. Higgins, Joseph Tripi and Joshua Violanti, who handled the case, stated that between 2012 and March 2015, Gonzalez coerced a minor, identified as A.N., to engage in commercial sex acts. Gonzalez provided A.N. with cocaine in exchange for sex knowing that A.N. was physically addicted to cocaine. Gonzalez used A.N.’s addiction to cocaine and other drugs to keep A.N. dependent on himself and to coerce A.N. to engage in commercial sex acts with him directly.
In addition, between 2012 and 2013, Gonzalez coerced another individual, identified as B.E., to engage in commercial sex acts. Gonzalez provided B.E. with heroin in exchange for sex, knowing that B.E. was physically addicted to heroin. Gonzalez used B.E.’s addiction to keep B.E. dependent on himself and to coerce B.E. to engage in commercial sex acts with him directly.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.
TONAWANDA MAN GOING TO PRISON FOR 25 YEARS FOR PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Michael E. Swain, 37, of Tonawanda, NY, who was convicted of production of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison and lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that between October 20 and November 1, 2021, Swain coerced five minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions. Specifically, Swain communicated with a 15-year-old minor female who resided in Colorado using Discord, a social media platform. The communications included sexually graphic conversations, during which Swain requested that the minor female take sexually explicit videos and images and send them to him. In addition, Swain engaged in numerous sexual communications with the minor female from approximately 2019 to 2022, during which other sexually explicit images and videos were sent from to Swain. On February 28, 2023, the FBI executed a search warrant at Swain’s residence and seized a desktop computer tower, a laptop computer, and an external hard drive, all of which were found to contain child pornography.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Stauffiger, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Buffalo Office Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Amie Feroleto.
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