Depew man pleads guilty to entering secure area at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that that James R. Muench Jr., 45, of Depew, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. to entering aircraft or airport area, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000.

According to the plea, on May 20, 2025, Muench drove his vehicle up to a closed security gate outside the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. He initially stopped at the gate, but then repeatedly rammed his vehicle into the gate, eventually bending the metal gate. Muench then drove his vehicle through the damaged and partially open gate and continued onto the aircraft operational area of the airport. Muench drove through various secure parts of the airport including the inner airfield roads, aircraft taxiways, the commercial passenger aircraft ramp area, and the active airport runways, where aircraft take off and land.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright. The plea is the result of an investigation by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police, under the direction of Chief Brian Patterson and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Brendan Dunford.

Sentenced is scheduled for October 15, 2026, before Magistrate Judge Schroeder.

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