Erie County District Attorney announces that a State Supreme Court trial jury has returned a guilty verdict against 23 year-old Charles Pellis, of Oswego, New York in connection with a robbery that left a 15 year-old Orchard Park youth unconscious.

After less than an hour of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the sole count of the indictment charging Robbery in the Second Degree.  This is the highest charge for which the defendant could have been convicted.  In other words, Pellis was prosecuted to the fullest extent to the law.

In late August 2013, Pellis and co-defendant Donald Reardon (who was wanted on a burglary warrant) left home on foot with a plan to head out west. When Reardon left Oswego, he was wanted on a burglary warrant.

The pair stopped in Orchard Park, Pellis’ former home town, and immediately set up camp in Yates Park near Green Lake. They then began hanging out with the local teenagers and set up another camp behind the country club where they would entertain their new friends.

By September 12, 2013, the pair was desperate for money and identified a local 15 year-old who wanted to buy marihuana.  Pellis and Reardon arranged to meet the youth, and packaged grass clippings and leaves in a plastic bag with the hopes of scamming the teenager out of his money.  However, when the victim wanted to inspect the product Pellis and Reardon lured him into a wooded lot behind Green Lake and attacked him.  Reardon sucker punched the unsuspecting victim and immediately placed him in a headlock while Pellis pulled off the victim’s pants, which contained a small amount of cash and a cell phone.  The pair then left the 15 year-old victim unconscious and fled the area.  When the victim regained consciousness, he went to a nearby house clad in his underwear and reported the attack.  The homeowner reported the incident to the Orchard Park Police.

Reardon and Pellis were apprehended the following day by Detective John Payne as he investigated a complaint of two homeless men loitering at a local business.  Both were charged with Robbery in the Second Degree. Defendant Reardon has pleaded guilty to Robbery and faces up to seven years when he is sentenced March 31, 2014 by Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case.  He is currently serving a state sentence for the Oswego burglary.

Pellis faces up to 15 years in state prison when he is sentenced April 23, 2014 by Justice Burns.  No stranger to law enforcement, Pellis also has convictions for falsely reporting that he had been kidnapped and for making a bomb threat at the Orchard Park High school in 2009.  After being arrested for the robbery, Pellis was indicted in Oswego on multiple counts of Rape involving a 14 year-old female.  He admitted his guilt on the rapes and is awaiting sentencing for those crimes.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Patrick B. Shanahan and Nathaniel C. Kapperman, both of whom are assigned to DA Sedita’s Felony Trial Bureau.