Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Former Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Steven Pigeon has entered a guilty plea to sexual abuse of a child. The plea arrangement came at the urging of the victim and victim's family and before the case was to go to trial.
Between November and December of 2016, Pigeon subjected a child, who was less than 11-years-old, to sexual contact at a location in Erie County. The victim was known to Pigeon. The victim is said to have been 9-years-old at the time.
Pigeon faces a maximum of seven years in prison when he is sentenced on Friday, Dec. 22 at 9:30 a.m. EST, but is likely to only serve one year in prison as agreed upon under the terms of his plea, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn. However, Flynn does say the victim and the family are OK with the year sentence.
"Now, I'm not going to do cartwheels here about the time of jail he's going to get," said Flynn on Monday. "In order to get this done, he's only going to do a year in jail."
A temporary order of protection issued on behalf of the victim remains in effect.
"The nightmare is over for the victim," Flynn said.
This is not Pigeon's first brush with the law. Pigeon had pleaded guilty in 2018 to bribing Judge John Michalek with hockey tickets in exchange for for favors in legal cases.
Pigeon also was sentenced to four months in prison for his role in directing an illegal campaign contribution. That contribution went to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign.
As a result of the bribery case, Pigeon was disbarred.
