Between Lake Erie and the Finger Lakes, federal prosecutions run through one court: the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, sitting in Buffalo and Rochester. Its criminal docket is unlike any other in the Second Circuit — drug trafficking and firearms cases account for well over half of its sentencings, and in fiscal year 2024 all but three of its 365 convictions came by guilty plea.
This page covers what a defendant in western New York actually needs to know: the two courthouses and the judges who sit in them, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo and Rochester and what it is charging in 2026, the sentencing numbers behind the docket, and the way our firm practices here. Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a national federal defense practice — trial-level work, Second Circuit appeals, and post-conviction litigation — appearing in the Western District through pro hac vice admission. You will find this page in our federal courts directory.
When a federal agent’s card shows up at a door in Buffalo, Rochester, or anywhere across the district’s seventeen counties, the case has already started. We offer a paid, one-hour initial consultation to evaluate it before decisions get made for you.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer: Western District of New York
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the Western District of New York? | The federal trial court for New York’s 17 westernmost counties, sitting at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo and the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building in Rochester. |
| Who prosecutes federal cases there? | The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, with offices in Buffalo and Rochester; Michael DiGiacomo serves as U.S. Attorney as of mid-2026. |
| What kind of cases dominate? | Drug trafficking (42.5%) and firearms (16.2%) led the district’s 365 FY2024 sentencings — together nearly six of every ten cases (USSC data). |
| How often do WDNY cases go to trial? | Rarely: 99.2% of FY2024 convictions came by guilty plea; three cases were tried. |
| Which circuit hears WDNY appeals? | The Second Circuit, with a 14-day deadline for the criminal notice of appeal after judgment. |
| Can the firm appear in the Western District of New York? | Yes — we appear pro hac vice and take every new WDNY matter through a paid, one-hour initial consultation first. |
Key Takeaways
- The Western District of New York covers 17 counties from the Pennsylvania line to Lake Ontario, with courthouses in Buffalo and Rochester only.
- Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford leads the bench as of June 2026, joined by district judges in both cities, several senior judges, and seven magistrate judges.
- Drug trafficking made up 42.5% of FY2024 sentencings and firearms another 16.2% — the district’s docket is dominated by exactly these two case types.
- The FY2024 trial rate was 0.8%: three trials out of 365 sentenced cases, so pretrial litigation and plea negotiation decide nearly everything here.
- U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo’s office prosecutes from Buffalo and Rochester, with narcotics, firearms, fraud, and border port-of-entry cases as recurring themes.
- The district maintains its own Local Rules of Criminal Procedure (effective January 1, 2025) separate from its civil rules, plus published judge-by-judge preferences.
- Appeals from Buffalo and Rochester go to the Second Circuit under the 14-day rule of Appellate Rule 4(b), treated by United States v. Harris (2d Cir. 2026) as a claim-processing deadline.
- Section 2255 and compassionate-release motions return to the WDNY itself, and we litigate them there pro hac vice alongside trial-level defense and appeals.
The Western District of New York at a Glance
The Western District of New York takes in 17 counties — Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Chautauqua, and their neighbors down to the Pennsylvania border and east through the Finger Lakes. Unlike its sprawling five-seat neighbor, the Northern District of New York, this court concentrates everything in two buildings: the Robert H. Jackson United States Courthouse at 2 Niagara Square in Buffalo and the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building at 100 State Street in Rochester.
The Niagara frontier gives this district a docket profile all its own. International bridges at the Canadian border funnel cross-border traffic — and cross-border smuggling cases — directly into Buffalo’s federal courthouse, while the drug markets of two mid-sized cities keep narcotics and firearms prosecutions at the center of the criminal calendar. Appellate review belongs to the Second Circuit in Manhattan, the same court that reviews convictions from Vermont and the rest of New York.
One structural detail matters to every defendant: the WDNY keeps a free-standing set of Local Rules of Criminal Procedure — effective January 1, 2025, and distinct from the civil rules revised in January 2026 — and each judge publishes individual preferences that govern motion practice in that courtroom. Criminal defense in this district means complying with three layers of rules at once: federal, local-criminal, and judge-specific.
Judges of the Western District: Buffalo and Rochester
The court’s roster, as posted in June 2026, is led by Chief United States District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, who sits in Rochester. The other district judges include Lawrence J. Vilardo and John L. Sinatra, Jr. in Buffalo and Meredith A. Vacca in Rochester — Judge Vacca joined the court in 2024 — while Judges Charles J. Siragusa, Richard J. Arcara, and Frank P. Geraci, Jr. continue to hear cases as senior judges. Seven magistrate judges divide the preliminary criminal work between the two courthouses, from initial appearances and detention hearings through suppression-motion reports.
A detail that says a great deal about this court’s caseload: the WDNY’s own district-judges page also lists the three judges of the District of Vermont, who take Western District cases by designation. When a two-seat court borrows judges from a neighboring state, defendants should expect scheduling realities — and judge assignments — that no national chart predicts. We confirm the assigned judge’s individual rules and current calendar before filing anything substantive in this district.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo and Rochester
Federal prosecutions across the seventeen counties come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, led as of mid-2026 by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, with offices mirroring the court’s two seats. The office describes its charging portfolio as running from serious narcotics trafficking and organized crime through complex fraud schemes, public corruption, human trafficking, and child-exploitation offenses.
Its press output shows what that means in practice. In a single week of June 2026 the office announced a conviction for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in Buffalo, a guilty plea to possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, a grand jury narcotics-conspiracy indictment out of Jamestown, and a 42-month wire-fraud-conspiracy sentence in a Rochester-area retail-theft ring that moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Drug, gun, and fraud cases — filed steadily, resolved mostly by plea — are the rhythm of this office.
For anyone under investigation here, the practical reading is straightforward: WDNY prosecutors charge high-volume categories backed by task-force investigations and cooperating witnesses, and they rarely need trials to win. Getting counsel involved while charging decisions are still open is the single most valuable move a target or subject can make in this district.
Federal Criminal Cases in the District
The center of gravity is unmistakable — federal drug charges, frequently paired with firearms counts under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) or felon-in-possession theories — but the district also produces a consistent line of fraud and white-collar prosecutions: wire-fraud conspiracies, bank and embezzlement cases, and tax matters out of both cities.
Procedurally, a WDNY prosecution tracks the standard federal arc — investigation (sometimes flagged by a target letter or subpoena), indictment, initial appearance and arraignment, discovery and motions, then plea or trial and sentencing — with magistrate judges in Buffalo and Rochester running the early stages. Stage-by-stage detail lives in our federal criminal process hub.
In a drug-and-gun district, the defense battlegrounds are predictable and technical: the legality of the stop and the search, the reliability of informants behind warrant applications, lab and quantity disputes that drive mandatory minimums, and the § 924(c) stacking decisions that can dwarf the underlying drug exposure. We litigate each of those points because in this district they are usually the whole case.
Applied Insight: Three trials in a fiscal year means WDNY prosecutors price their plea offers with near-certainty of conviction in mind. The leverage that changes those offers comes from suppression litigation and charge-selection fights, not from the remote prospect of trial alone — which is why the motion calendar, not the trial calendar, is where a Western District defense is usually won or lost.
A Docket Built on Drug and Gun Cases: The Data
The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s FY2024 packet for the Western District of New York counts 365 sentenced individuals, and the distribution explains everything about how this district works. Drug trafficking accounted for 42.5% (155 cases) against a 29.5% national share, and firearms for 16.2% (59) against 13.2% nationally. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement added 10.4% (38), with sexual-abuse (6.3%), child sexual abuse material (4.7%), robbery (4.7%), and immigration (4.1%) cases following. Tax cases (2.7%) ran at nearly four times their national rate.
The resolution statistic is even more lopsided: 99.2% of FY2024 convictions came by guilty plea — 362 of 365, among the highest plea shares of any district in the Second Circuit’s FY2024 table. Under the advisory regime of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), that makes the Guidelines computation, mandatory-minimum exposure, and safety-valve eligibility the real terrain. Recent amendments matter here in concrete ways: Amendment 821’s zero-point offender and status-point changes apply retroactively, and Amendment 827 wrote the intended-loss rule into the text of § 2B1.1 for the district’s fraud cases — while the November 2025 simplification package applies prospectively only.
We treat these numbers as a map. In quantity-driven drug cases, a single contested lab result or relevant-conduct ruling can shift the range by years; in the district’s fraud docket, loss-amount litigation does the same work. Sentencing advocacy here is arithmetic first, narrative second — and both have to be built well before the plea.
Appeals and Post-Conviction Matters
A judgment entered at 2 Niagara Square or 100 State Street can be challenged in three directions, and the clock starts immediately. Direct review lies in the Second Circuit, where Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b) gives a criminal defendant 14 days from entry of judgment to notice the appeal; the circuit’s panel decision in United States v. Harris, No. 22-2717 (2d Cir. Jan. 14, 2026), classified that deadline as a claim-processing rule the government can forfeit, but no competent defense plans around forfeiture.
The other two directions lead back to this district. A motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 — the federal prisoner’s vehicle for ineffective-assistance and constitutional claims — is filed with the WDNY itself, and so is a compassionate-release motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). Since United States v. Brooker, 976 F.3d 228 (2d Cir. 2020), Second Circuit district courts have held broad discretion over what counts as extraordinary and compelling, and the circuit’s courts granted 27.1% of compassionate-release motions in FY2025 against a 14.1% national rate. After Rutherford v. United States (decided May 28, 2026), however, nonretroactive sentencing-law changes cannot supply the reason — a motion from a WDNY drug or gun sentence now has to be grounded in medical condition, age, caregiving need, or comparable circumstances. This appellate and collateral work is the heart of what we do, in this district and nationally.
How the Firm Practices in This Court
Like every federal district court, the WDNY admits qualified out-of-district counsel pro hac vice for a particular case, and that is how we appear here. Admission is case-specific, but the law we practice is not: the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Sentencing Guidelines, and Second Circuit precedent govern a Buffalo courtroom exactly as they govern one in Manhattan or Burlington.
What a national practice must bring to this district is fluency in its specifics — the free-standing criminal local rules, the judge-preference documents both courthouses publish, and a docket where the government’s leverage comes from mandatory minimums and a 99.2% plea rate. We build WDNY defenses around exactly those pressure points, and we preserve the record at each step because so much of the value in a drug or firearms case is realized on appeal or in collateral litigation.
The lawyer leading that work, Elizabeth Franklin-Best, carries a record few regional practices match: more than 330 federal proceedings and over 100 federal appeals, admission to the U.S. Supreme Court and all twelve federal circuits, a nationwide pro hac vice practice, recognition as a “Best Lawyer” in Appellate Practice in The Best Lawyers in America 2026, a Chambers USA 2026 ranking in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, and authorship of Reversing Your Criminal Conviction. That appellate grounding shapes how we try, plead, and sentence cases in Buffalo and Rochester from day one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What area does the Western District of New York cover?
Seventeen counties in western New York — including Erie, Monroe, Niagara, and Chautauqua — running from the Pennsylvania line to Lake Ontario and the Canadian border. The court sits in just two cities: Buffalo, at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse, and Rochester, at the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building.
Who prosecutes federal crimes in the Western District of New York?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, led as of mid-2026 by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, with offices in Buffalo and Rochester. The office’s announced portfolio runs from narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses to complex fraud, public corruption, and human trafficking.
Which appeals court covers the Western District of New York?
Convictions from Buffalo and Rochester are reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The notice of appeal in a criminal case is generally due within 14 days of judgment — a deadline the Second Circuit’s 2026 Harris decision treats as a claim-processing rule, but one that should always be met.
How likely is a federal case in the WDNY to go to trial?
Statistically, very unlikely: in fiscal year 2024, 99.2% of the district’s 365 convictions came by guilty plea and only three cases were tried. That is why suppression motions, charge negotiations, and Guidelines positioning decide most outcomes in this district.
Can an out-of-state lawyer represent me in the Western District of New York?
Yes. The WDNY admits qualified out-of-district attorneys pro hac vice for a specific case, as every federal district court does. Counsel must also follow the district’s separate Local Rules of Criminal Procedure (effective January 1, 2025) and the individual preferences each judge publishes.
Does the firm handle federal cases in the Western District of New York?
Yes. We defend WDNY prosecutions through pro hac vice admission and litigate Second Circuit appeals, Section 2255 motions, and compassionate-release matters from the district’s judgments. Elizabeth Franklin-Best is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and all twelve federal circuits, including the Second.
Who is the chief judge of the Western District of New York?
As of June 2026, Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford leads the court from Rochester. District judges also sit in Buffalo, several senior judges continue to hear cases, and the court’s posted roster additionally lists the District of Vermont’s judges, who take WDNY cases by designation.
What are the most common federal charges in Buffalo and Rochester?
Drug-trafficking offenses, by a wide margin — 42.5% of the district’s FY2024 sentencings, per U.S. Sentencing Commission data — followed by firearms cases at 16.2% and fraud, theft, and embezzlement at 10.4%. Tax prosecutions also run well above the national rate in this district.
Can a Western District of New York sentence be reduced after it is final?
Sometimes. A Section 2255 motion or a compassionate-release motion is filed in the WDNY itself, and retroactive Guidelines changes such as Amendment 821 can support a reduction under Section 3582(c)(2). Second Circuit courts granted 27.1% of compassionate-release motions in FY2025, though after the Supreme Court’s Rutherford decision a motion cannot rest on nonretroactive changes in sentencing law.
Talk With a Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer
A drug or gun indictment in Buffalo, a fraud investigation in Rochester, an appeal worth taking, a sentence worth revisiting — each starts with the same step here: a paid, one-hour initial consultation in which we examine the facts, the exposure, and the realistic ways forward in the Western District of New York.