FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2009
www.usdoj.gov/usao/nyw
DAVID CAIN, JR., SENTENCED TO 55 YEARS
BUFFALO, N.Y. - United States Attorney Terrance P. Flynn announces that yesterday afternoon, January 12, 2008, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara sentenced David Cain, Jr., 38, formerly of Barker, New York, and currently in federal custody, to 55 years in prison. Cain had been found guilty of sixteen felony counts by a U.S. District Court jury on December 7, 2007 following a seven (7) week trial in front of Judge Arcara.
In its verdict, the jury had found the defendant guilty of seven arsons, five extortions under the federal Hobbs Act, three counts of witness tampering, tampering with physical evidence, racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. Cain, Jr.’s convictions on three of the arsons (the April 17, 2001 insurance fraud arson of Cain, Jr.s’ storage garage, 8101 Telegraph Road, Gasport, the February 26, 2002 arson of the building housing Bracey’s Tree Service, 6161 McKee Street, Newfane and the July 9 2004 arson of an airplane and its hangar at the Royalton Airport, 4855 Mackey Road, Roylton) subjected Cain, Jr. to mandatory consecutive sentences totaling 55 years, which will keep the defendant in federal prison until he is nearly 90. Judge Arcara sentenced Cain to five years in prison on each of the other twelve (12) counts of conviction and ordered those five year prison terms to be served concurrently.
During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony M. Bruce and Charles B. Wydysh presented evidence that demonstrated that Cain, Jr., who owned Dave’s Tree Service in Barker, New York, recruited and directed a group of men to commit arsons at and vandalize and steal the equipment of several competing tree services and logging businesses in an effort to put these competitors out of business, either through the intimidation the property destruction carried with it or by destroying the trucks and equipment his competitors needed to carry on their businesses.
Proof was also presented in which showed that when the investigation focused on Cain, Jr., he made a number of efforts to get witnesses that had been subpoenaed by the government to lie to investigators and to the federal grand jury.
Also convicted in the trial were Cain, Jr.’s younger brother, Chris, who will be sentenced next Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 and Cain, Jr’s cousin, Jamie Soha, who will be sentenced on January 28, 2009. Both of these men face substantial prison sentences for arsons they involved themselves in, while Chris Cain also faces a sentence for his role in an armed home invasion robbery where a seventy year old woman was bound with electrical cord and held at gunpoint while her house was ransacked and over $20,000 and seven guns were stolen. Additionally, Ann Cain, David Cain, Jr.’s and Chris Cain’s mother, faces sentencing on January 29, 2009 for tampering with a witness to an arson.
The investigation that led to the convictions was the result of the efforts of multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional task force consisting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge David DeJoe, the Niagara County Sheriffs Department under the direction of former Sheriff Thomas Beilein, the Orleans County Sheriffs Department under the direction of Sheriff Scott D. Hess, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett.
January 13, 2009
www.usdoj.gov/usao/nyw
DAVID CAIN, JR., SENTENCED TO 55 YEARS
BUFFALO, N.Y. - United States Attorney Terrance P. Flynn announces that yesterday afternoon, January 12, 2008, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara sentenced David Cain, Jr., 38, formerly of Barker, New York, and currently in federal custody, to 55 years in prison. Cain had been found guilty of sixteen felony counts by a U.S. District Court jury on December 7, 2007 following a seven (7) week trial in front of Judge Arcara.
In its verdict, the jury had found the defendant guilty of seven arsons, five extortions under the federal Hobbs Act, three counts of witness tampering, tampering with physical evidence, racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. Cain, Jr.’s convictions on three of the arsons (the April 17, 2001 insurance fraud arson of Cain, Jr.s’ storage garage, 8101 Telegraph Road, Gasport, the February 26, 2002 arson of the building housing Bracey’s Tree Service, 6161 McKee Street, Newfane and the July 9 2004 arson of an airplane and its hangar at the Royalton Airport, 4855 Mackey Road, Roylton) subjected Cain, Jr. to mandatory consecutive sentences totaling 55 years, which will keep the defendant in federal prison until he is nearly 90. Judge Arcara sentenced Cain to five years in prison on each of the other twelve (12) counts of conviction and ordered those five year prison terms to be served concurrently.
During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony M. Bruce and Charles B. Wydysh presented evidence that demonstrated that Cain, Jr., who owned Dave’s Tree Service in Barker, New York, recruited and directed a group of men to commit arsons at and vandalize and steal the equipment of several competing tree services and logging businesses in an effort to put these competitors out of business, either through the intimidation the property destruction carried with it or by destroying the trucks and equipment his competitors needed to carry on their businesses.
Proof was also presented in which showed that when the investigation focused on Cain, Jr., he made a number of efforts to get witnesses that had been subpoenaed by the government to lie to investigators and to the federal grand jury.
Also convicted in the trial were Cain, Jr.’s younger brother, Chris, who will be sentenced next Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 and Cain, Jr’s cousin, Jamie Soha, who will be sentenced on January 28, 2009. Both of these men face substantial prison sentences for arsons they involved themselves in, while Chris Cain also faces a sentence for his role in an armed home invasion robbery where a seventy year old woman was bound with electrical cord and held at gunpoint while her house was ransacked and over $20,000 and seven guns were stolen. Additionally, Ann Cain, David Cain, Jr.’s and Chris Cain’s mother, faces sentencing on January 29, 2009 for tampering with a witness to an arson.
The investigation that led to the convictions was the result of the efforts of multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional task force consisting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge David DeJoe, the Niagara County Sheriffs Department under the direction of former Sheriff Thomas Beilein, the Orleans County Sheriffs Department under the direction of Sheriff Scott D. Hess, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett.
