Hamburg Cop Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor

By John Borsa

July 9, 2010 Updated Aug 26, 2009 at 6:21 PM EST

Laurie Staley-Stone was the first woman to make detective in the Town of Hamburg police department.

Now, she's being forced to retire as part of a plea agreement that could possibly see the 45-year-old spend up to one year behind bars.

Staley-Stone pleaded guilty late Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court, admitting that she accessed the state and FBI crime computers to gather intelligence on a local motorcycle gang and then turned that information over to a rival gang.

Prosecutors said she agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally distributing police information.

"She, as a police officer, has certain authority to access the computer, as does every police officer," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Bruce. "She went beyond that authority. That's what she's charged with."

Staley-Stone gave information including mug shots, license plate numbers and police records of the Kingsmen motorcycle gang to a rival gang called Chosen Few.

Staley-Stone will be sentenced on Nov. 24. She could be sentenced to one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine.

Her resignation becomes official at the end of this month, but Staley-Stone will be able to keep her pension.

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