Western New York Man With Alleged Ties To White Supremacist Group Charged With Being A Felon in Possession Of Firearms

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal criminal complaint, charging Stephen Reed Pattison, 31, of Hilton, NY, with being a felon-in-possession of firearms, was unsealed today. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.      

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who is handling the case, stated that according to the criminal complaint, Pattison was arrested in Western New York, on October 30, 2020, by the United States Marshals Task Force. The basis for defendant’s arrest was a parole absconder warrant from a 2016 conviction that he had in the State of Missouri for Domestic Assault in the Second Degree. In the months preceding his arrest, the defendant aggressively and sometimes violently expressed his disagreement with local protests relating to the deaths of George Floyd and Daniel Prude in a series of Facebook posts. Pattison also expressed his support of white supremacist groups and is believed to be associated with a local “Blood and Honour” group in the Rochester, a white supremacist group that is affiliated with a neo-Nazi organization known as “Combat 18.”  Following his arrest as a parole absconder, investigators obtained search warrants for both the defendant’s cell phone as well as his residence on Church Road, in Hilton. During the execution of those warrants, evidence suggesting his involvement with white supremacist organizations was developed and various firearms were seized from the residence.

Pattison made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson and was detained.

The complaint is a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, the United States Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina, the Brighton Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Catholdi; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Barry Chase; the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter; the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan; and the Aureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York FIeld Division.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.      

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