BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A fired Erie County Assistant District Attorney is facing another charge after Buffalo police raided his apartment on Hartwell Road in North Buffalo and recovered more than 11 pounds of marijuana.
28-year-old De'Lenci Shannon-Brown was already facing a misdemeanor charge of attempted misconduct for allegedly sharing sensitive information with a convicted felon who was under investigation by the Buffalo Police.
The case began Wednesday morning when Buffalo police, working on an unrelated case, came across Shannon-Brown's personal cell phone number among phone records of someone they were investigating.
By the end of the day, Shannon-Brown was arrested following a traffic stop. An Erie County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over and noticed he was smoking marijuana — that meant another charge of driving while ability impaired, another misdemeanor.
He was also immediately fired from the job he had started in June.
"The allegations, if proven to be true, are outrageous," Acting Erie County DA Michael Keane said on Thursday.
Following the raid, he has been additionally charged with felony criminal possession of cannabis. He had more than twice the legal limit under New York State Law.
John Flynn, the former Erie County District Attorney, said he hired Shannon-Brown as an intern and then later as a temporary worker as he was trying to pass the bar exam.
Shannon-Brown failed the exam twice before finally passing, but that was after Flynn had left office and Michael Keane became the acting district attorney.
“It's a total breach of trust," Flynn said. "Not only me as a former DA and the current DA but everyone else in the office. You have violated the trust of all 200 employees of the Erie County DA's office along with the thousands of members of law enforcement.”
