Defendant Sentenced for Illegal Gun Possession

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Eric D. Hawkins, Jr., 40, of Buffalo, was sentenced this morning before Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi to 12 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Hawkins was sentenced today as a second violent felony offender.

On Thursday, July 18, 2024, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Buffalo Police officers initiated a traffic stop after observing a vehicle travel eastbound on East Utica Street without illuminated taillights. During the traffic stop on Glenwood Avenue near Roehrer Avenue, police determined that the defendant was driving with a suspended license. When the officer asked the defendant to turn off the vehicle, the defendant locked the doors, rolled up the windows and drove off at a high rate of speed. Police followed as the defendant continued to recklessly drive on the inbound Route 33/Kensington Expressway. The defendant was arrested after he stopped the vehicle in a parking lot at Bennett Lane near Mabel Court.

A bag containing an illegal loaded pistol was recovered from the flight path of the vehicle on Humboldt Parkway between Glenwood Avenue and East Utica Street, which was submitted into evidence. The Erie County Central Police Services Forensic Laboratory determined that the pistol was operable. The firearm had been reported stolen in Dallas, Texas. The defendant was linked to the weapon through DNA analysis.

In March 2026, a jury found Hawkins guilty of one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class C violent felony). Jurors rendered their decision after one-day of deliberations following a three-day trial, convicting the defendant of the sole count of the indictment.

DA Keane commends the Buffalo Police Department for their work in this investigation as well as Firearms Examiner Cody McKellar, Forensic Biologist Michelle Scotland and Forensic Biologist Maria Diaz of the Erie County Central Police Services Forensic Laboratory.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan A. Connelly Felony Trials Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Margaret D. Christ of the Raise the Age/Auto Theft Insurance Fraud Unit.