Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announced that 29 year old Rodney Curry of 270 Dewitt Avenue, Buffalo, pleaded guilty, as charged, to Burglary in the First Degree, a class “B” violent felony, before Erie County Court Judge Shelia A. DiTullio.  This is the highest charge for which Curry could have been convicted had he gone to trial.  Additionally, Cynthia Rashad and Kelvin Mateo pleaded guilty to Perjury in the Third Degree in connection with their efforts to provide Curry with a false alibi.

Curry was arrested on August 28, 2011 in connection with a gunpoint home invasion of a Buffalo family, where a woman and her two children were terrorized. When questioned by the police, Curry denied that he was involved and claimed that he was with his aunt, Cynthia Rashad, and a friend, Kelvin Mateo. Rashad and Mateo were subpoenaed to testify before the Erie County grand jury and claimed, under oath, that Curry was with them at the time of the home invasion. A subsequent investigation, which relied in large part upon the collection and analysis of cellular telephone tower communication data, demonstrated that Rashard and Mateo lied to the grand jury. Rashard and Mateo pleaded guilty to Perjury in the Third Degree in return for their cooperation in the prosecution of Curry.

DA Sedita praised the efforts of Buffalo Police Department Detective Margaret Dragone and Assistant District Attorney John Feroleto in foiling the defendants’ despicable plot to deceive the grand jury into believing that Rodney Curry was being wrongfully prosecuted.

Rashad and Mateo are both awaiting sentence before Judge DiTullio and face a maximum sentence of one year in the Erie County Correctional Facility. Curry faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison when he is sentenced on December 10, 2012 before Judge DiTullio.