BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rather than making a last-second push to the polls on the eve of Election Day, former Erie County Democratic Party chairman Steve Pigeon admitted to sexually abusing a 9-year-old in 2016.
After originally pleading not guilty when facing a maximum sentence of life in prison and five other charges, the former political figure changed his plea Monday after being offered a deal for one year in prison in exchange for an admission of guilt to a first-degree sexual abuse charge.
“I'm not going to do cartwheels here about the time of jail and he's going to get,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said. “I would have liked to see more. But sometimes in life, you’ve got to swallow your pride and take what you can get.”
The charges against Pigeon, 63, were originally filed in December 2021. Investigators say he engaged in sexual intercourse and sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11 years old between November 2016 and December 2016. The incident took place in Erie County.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office says the victim was known to Pigeon.
Pigeon faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced on December 22, but the deal states that he will most likely receive one year in prison. He continues to be released on his own recognizance. A temporary order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim and remains in place.
Flynn said the deal came at the request of the victim's family, saying that they did not want to go through the emotional turmoil of a public trial and that the admission to guilt for them is justice itself.
“The victim is faced with the task that people don’t believe me, the shame of what happened to them is now compounded with that fact that people don’t believe them now,” Flynn said. “Obviously, she was telling the truth.”
This isn't the first time Pigeon will be seeing time behind bars.
Pigeon, a long-time Democratic Party power broker, was sentenced to a year in prison on a state bribery charge in 2022.
Pigeon pleaded guilty to the charge in 2018, but his sentencing was delayed multiple times. His state prison sentence will run concurrently with the federal sentence he received a day prior.
Pigeon was charged along with former State Supreme Court Judge John Michalek. Prosecutors said the two were engaged in favor of swapping. Michalek, who also pleaded guilty to state charges, sought Pigeon's help getting jobs for family members. Emails obtained by investigators also indicated the judge wanted Pigeon to put in a good word with Governor Andrew Cuomo about a nomination to be an Appellate Court judge.