BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a two-count indictment charging Shanna Smith, 25, of Buffalo, NY, with false declarations before grand jury and obstruction of justice. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Misha A. Coulson and Seth T. Molisani, who are handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, Xavier Wimes, a/ k/ a Zave, was shot and killed the morning of Jan. 1, 2017, in the Towne Garden Apartments in Buffalo. As Buffalo Police investigated the homicide, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies included the Wimes homicide investigation as part of a larger investigation into violations of federal law involving, among other things, drug trafficking, racketeering, and violent crimes committed in furtherance of such activities.
On July 11, 2018, the defendant was interviewed by a Buffalo Police detective and an FBI special agent. During that interview, Smith stated she was at a party in the Towne Garden Apartments the morning of January l, 2017, attended by Wimes and that she was present during an altercation between Wimes and Dalvon Curry that preceded Wimes's murder. However, on July 31, 2018, the defendant, while under oath and testifying in a proceeding before a Federal Grand Jury, falsely stated: that she observed 20 individuals chasing Wimes outside of the Towne Gardens Apartment building just before Wimes was killed; that she observed her cousin Dalvon Curry retrieve a firearm from the grass shortly after the murder and throw it into the bushes; that she helped Dalvon Curry to a parking lot near the murder scene; and that she accompanied Dalvon Curry to the hospital to seek medical treatment following Wimes's homicide.
The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and was released on conditions.
The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.
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. #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
