Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 33-year-old Marlon J. Johnson of Buffalo was sentenced this morning before Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi to a determinate sentence of 7 years in prison. The defendant was sentenced today as a second violent felony offender.

The investigation began when the Buffalo Police Department received information that the defendant, who was on federal probation for a prior offense, was in possession of a gun. On July 25, 2019, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s residence on Phyllis Avenue where investigators found three loaded, illegal firearms inside a safe on the second floor of the home. The defendant was linked to all three weapons through DNA analysis.  

On January 7, 2022, Judge Bargnesi found Johnson guilty of three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felonies), convicting him of all counts in the indictment after a non-jury trial.

DA Flynn commends Detective Anthony Fanara and Officer Michael Redmond of the Buffalo Police Department for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Chief John Gerken, Jr. of the Narcotics/Intelligence Bureau.