Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Jr. announces that 36-year-old Deladier Benitez of Miami, Florida has pleaded guilty before Erie County Court Judge Thomas P. Franczyk 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. 

Benitez faces 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison when he is sentenced on January 13, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. by Judge Franczyk. 

Acting DA Flaherty 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 DA Flaherty’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau prosecuted the case.