Hamburg officer to serve prison time

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) - A former Hamburg police officer will serve prison time for passing information to a biker gang.

She was the Town of Hamburg's first female detective, with a total of 21 years as a police officer, including two years with Buffalo. But now, 44-year-old Laurie Staley-Stone will spend four months in a federal prison. for passing along police information to the Chosen Few motorcycle gang.

Her attorney Joel Daniels had asked U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah McCarthy to spare Staley-Stone time behind bars.

"No acts of violence occurred at all as a result of Det. Staley-Stone's conduct. As a matter of fact her job was to prevent violence among these motorcycle clubs," said Daniels.

Staley-Stone had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, accessing a police database and providing the Chosen Few biker gang with a mug shot of a member of the rival gang the Kingsmen.

Appearing before the Judge, Staley-Stone said she was truly sorry, that she had made "a terrible judgment call," and that she "brought shame to the badge, former co-workers, her community and family."

Judge McCarthy said the information she gave out could have had violent consequences and that "a term of incarceration was necessary to promote respect for the law."

Laurie Staley-Stone will still receive her state pension. Her attorney Joel Daniels said the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut provides for women inmates, and may be the one closest to Buffalo.

The former police detective had 58 letters of support, but the judge told her "As a police officer you betrayed a trust and put others potentially in harms way."