Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 20-year-old Amauri Smith of Rochester, New York pleaded guilty yesterday morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to one count of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “D” felony).

On Saturday, June 11, 2022, at approximately 12:08 p.m., members of the Buffalo Police Department Intelligence Unit observed the defendant walking on Jefferson Avenue near Glenwood Avenue with what appeared to be a gun in the pocket of his shorts. Officers confronted the defendant and recovered an illegal, loaded handgun from the defendant’s pocket. The crime occurred during the Buffalo “March for Our Lives” event, an anti-gun violence demonstration. 

Smith faces a maximum of 7 years in prison when he is sentenced on Friday, February 10, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. He continues to remain released on bail set at $20,000 cash, bond or partially secured bond. 

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department Intelligence Unit for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Brown of the Felony Trials Bureau.