BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Two Buffalo men pleaded guilty Tuesday for looting multiple Amherst stores during the December blizzard, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Quinton Jones, 37, and Dijon Joyner, 31, were charged with one count of third-degree burglary.

Officials say at approximately 6:57 p.m. on Dec. 24, Joyner and Jones, along with two other unknown individuals, entered and unlawfully remained inside a closed store on the 3500 block of Main Street in Amherst. They gained entry to the window by breaking a window with a rock before stealing approximately $20,000 in cash as well as roughly $25,000 in merchandise. Jones was later found in possession of some of the stolen merchandise.

At approximately 6:10 p.m. the following day, Jones and Joyner again entered and unlawfully remained inside a closed business, this time a pizzeria, on the 3600 block of Main Street, according to officials. They used a rock to break a window and gain entry to the building, where they stole roughly $800 in food products and about $33 in change from cash registers.

“These defendants looted stores while our police and first responders were working to save lives during a horrific snow storm. I am taking these looting cases seriously as these were not crimes of desperation, but crimes of opportunity to burglarize unoccupied stores during a blizzard,” said Erie County DA John Flynn. 

Jones and Joyner each face a maximum of seven years in prison when they are sentenced July 10, and both defendants were released under supervision.