Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 26-year-old Nateonna J. Roland of Buffalo was sentenced yesterday morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to 1 to 3 years in prison.

On January 24, 2021, a jail deputy was transporting the defendant from one housing unit to another housing unit in the Erie County Holding Center due to COVID-19 protocols. The defendant was combative and refused multiple orders to exit the unit. While being escorted out of the unit by the deputy, the defendant, while handcuffed, dropped her body to the floor. Her intentional action caused an injury to the deputy’s shoulder.

Roland pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Assault in the Second Degree (Class “E” felony) on August 5, 2022.

The incident occurred while the defendant was in custody at the Erie County Holding Center pending sentencing in a separate criminal matter. On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the defendant stabbed her boyfriend, 21-year-old Brendan Benjamin, on East Eagle Street in the City of Buffalo during a domestic dispute. The victim was taken to Buffalo General Medical Center in a private vehicle where he later died from his injuries.

Roland pleaded guilty to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony) on February 10, 2020. She pleaded guilty, as charged, on the day jury selection was set to begin in her trial.

Her sentence on the attempted assault case will run concurrent to her sentence in the manslaughter case.

DA Flynn commends the Erie County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Chief Rachel L. Newton of the Raise the Age/ERPO Unit and Assistant District Attorney Stanislaw Makowski of the Felony Trials Bureau.