BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announced Thursday that a Kenmore man was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge after graduating from a diversion court program.
24-year-old Daniel D. Hill withdrew his previous plea to a felony charge and plead guilty to a reduced charge, one count of criminal trespass in the second degree.
On Saturday, May. 30, 2020, Hill and other unknown individuals broke a glass window in an effort to burglarize a liquor store on Elmwood Avenue near West Utica Street. The crime was committed while a protest related to the George Floyd murder was underway in Buffalo.
The liquor store was closed at the time of the crime. Hill was able to enter the liquor store and steal merchandise.
After initially pleading guilty to one count of burglary in the third degree in Sept. 2021, Hil entered U-CAN ERIE, a newly created Erie County diversion program. Hill was one of the program's first participants.
The program is a court-monitored, anti-crime mentorship program for young adult defendants who continue to go in and out of the criminal justice system.
Defendants between the ages of 18 and 25 who have been charged with their first non-violent felony offense are eligible to participate in U-CAN ERIE. The program provides support to young offenders and seeks to deter criminal behavior and potential reoffenses.
Defendants are eligible to participate in U-CAN ERIE under the following terms:
- Plead guilty to felony or misdemeanor in exchange for one year of interim probation
- Agree to meet once weekly for at least one hour with the court-designated mentor
- Follow standard conditions of probation
- Obtain a high school equivalency diploma and/or maintain employment
- Abide by any treatment requirements imposed by the court
