Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 34-year-old Deladier Benitez of Miami, Florida has been sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Thomas P. Franczyk to 364 days in jail. 

In December 2016, Benitez pleaded guilty to three counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. 

On October 11, 2016, Benitez was found to have 73 forged credit cards and a forged Ohio driver’s license in the name of Marco Silva during a border search at the Peace Bridge. The defendant was attempting to cross the border from the United States into Canada. The defendant is a Cuban national, living in the Miami, Florida area. 

DA Flynn commends the Canadian Border Service Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement, NY State Police, Troop T, including Troopers James Gainey and John McCusker, for their thorough investigation. 

Assistant District Attorney Brian P. Dassero in the DA’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau prosecuted the case.