Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Jr. announces 53-year-old Brian Benjamin of Buffalo has been sentenced to ten years in prison by Erie County Court Judge Thomas P. Franczyk for his involvement in five burglaries. 

In March of 2016, Benjamin pleaded guilty to five counts of Burglary in the Second Degree. 

The defendant’s spree began in July 2010, when he burglarized a house on Kay Street in Buffalo. Benjamin smeared blood on the lower window he broke to gain entry as well as the upper window he jumped out of after learning the residents were home. 

The crime lab was then able to connect Benjamin to three other unsolved burglaries from 2014 where DNA was left at the scene.  Two of those burglaries occurred on Carmel Street in Buffalo where blood was smeared on the wall and one burglary occurred on Englewood Avenue in Tonawanda where the suspect left clothing behind.  

Benjamin was later caught on video as he tried disabling a surveillance camera set up in the living room of a Cheektowaga home.  Cheektowaga Police posted the image on their Facebook page and received several anonymous tips identifying Benjamin as the burglar. 

Acting DA Flaherty commends the police agencies in Buffalo, Tonawanda and Cheektowaga for their investigative work. 

Assistant District Attorney James W. Mansour, II prosecuted the case.