Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 47-year-old Michael Cronin of Lancaster pleaded guilty before Buffalo City Court Judge Barbara Johnson-Lee to one count of Imprudent Speed under the navigation law, a violation.

On May 12, 2018, at approximately 11:05 p.m., the defendant and two occupants were returning from fishing on Lake Erie near the City of Buffalo. Cronin, who was operating the boat, crashed the vessel into a breakwall. The collision caused one of the occupants to be ejected from the boat, resulting in his death.

Cronin was sentenced to a one year conditional discharge and a fine.  

Assistant District Attorney Christopher M. McCarthy of the DA’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case.