BUFFALO, NY – Ernest Green, a 40-year-old Buffalo man with a lengthy rap sheet, is headed back to prison after being sentenced to 120 months – ten years – for possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr., closes a case built on video evidence and a trail leading from a shooting scene.
The feds say Green was caught on camera fleeing the Towne Gardens Housing Complex on July 26, 2020, moments after shots rang out and a vehicle slammed into a tree within the complex’s courtyard. A firearm linked to Green was later recovered five blocks from the chaotic scene. Investigators didn’t specify if the gun was used in the shooting, only that Green possessed it illegally.
This wasn’t Green’s first brush with the law, or his first felony conviction. According to prosecutors, Green first landed in trouble with the law in November 2004, earning a felony conviction in Erie County Court. He doubled down on criminal behavior in October 2010, racking up a second felony conviction in New York State Court. These prior convictions made it illegal for him to possess any firearm.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Adler and Timothy C. Lynch successfully argued that Green’s prior convictions legally barred him from owning a gun, turning his possession of the weapon into a federal offense. The prosecution clearly aimed to keep a known felon off the streets, and the judge agreed.
The case was a joint effort, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) taking the lead under Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito. The FBI, led by Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Stansbury, and the Buffalo Police Department, under Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, also contributed to the investigation, highlighting a coordinated push to address gun violence in the city.
Green’s decade-long sentence sends a clear message, at least according to federal authorities: repeat offenders caught with guns will face significant consequences. Whether it will actually deter crime on the streets of Buffalo remains to be seen. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, headed by Trini E. Ross, has made no comment beyond the official announcement.
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