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Niagara Falls
Thursday, 16
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Submitted by the Niagara County District Attorney's Office
Niagara County District Attorney Brian D. Seaman announced Darrion A. Cotton, age 59, of Niagara Falls, was sentenced to spend the next 19 years in prison following his guilty plea to the crime of assault in the first degree. Cotton previously admitted to seriously injuring a gas station cashier by striking her in the head with a hammer during a robbery on Jan. 19, 2024, in Niagara Falls.
“The Niagara Falls Police Department did an outstanding job in identifying the individual responsible for this horrendous attack,” Seaman said. “The defendant had three prior felony convictions and had made three prior trips to state prison. This sentence will protect the community from this dangerous and violent individual.”
Sentence was imposed by Acting Supreme Court Justice Mario Giacobbe. The case was investigated by the Niagara Falls Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Derek Hafner and Richelle Kloch-Krantz.
Seaman also announced that a Niagara County jury returned a guilty verdict convicting 33-year-old Brandon J. Wall of Niagara Falls of aggravated cruelty to an animal and criminal mischief in the second degree. Wall was convicted of strangling a puppy belonging to his significant other, requiring intensive veterinary care to save it from its injuries.
“It is hard to imagine how a person could hurt a helpless pet in this way,” Seaman said. “We will be asking the judge to impose a state prison sentence.”
The defendant faces as much as seven years in prison when he returns to court to be sentenced by County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek.
The case was investigated by the Niagara Falls Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Hafner and Raymond Fadel.
1859 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, NY 14072
Phone: 716-773-7676
Fax: 716-773-7190
