BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A former Erie County Sheriff's Office jail deputy has been sentenced after he pleaded guilty to a drug charge in May.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 45-year-old John A. Gugino of Hamburg was sentenced Thursday in Hamburg Town Court to a one-year conditional discharge, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay a $205 fine.
The district attorney's office announced that in October 2020 Gugino was stopped by an ECSO deputy while driving on Milestrip Road and a small quantity of cocaine was found during a search of his vehicle.
Gugino was initially charged with a felony for possession of cocaine, but testing determined the weight of the cocaine was a misdemeanor level. He pleaded guilty to one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in May, the highest sustainable charge on the morning his non-jury trial was scheduled to begin.
He was employed as a jail deputy with the sheriff’s office and was off-duty at the time of his arrest. The sheriff's office said Gugino was fired on June 10.
