BUFFALO — A Buffalo man accused of shooting and killing a Kill Buck man during a 2012 home invasion will face prosecution at the federal level.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury has returned a five-count indictment against Jaron M. Ruth, 25, of Buffalo, charging him with discharge of a firearm causing death; possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes; conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, cocaine and marijuana; distribution of crack cocaine; and using and maintaining a premises for drug dealing.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“This office and the entire Department of Justice has demonstrated a renewed commitment to apprehending and bringing violent criminals like Mr. Ruth to justice,” said U.S. Attorney James Kennedy Jr. in a statement. “No matter whether their crimes are committed in the inner city or in the most remote of rural areas, this office is targeting those who commit violence anywhere in our district.”
Ruth was indicted by a Cattaraugus County grand jury in June of 2016 on charges of second-degree murder, a class A-1 felony; and two counts each of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, class B felonies. The charges stemmed from the Sept. 21, 2012, shooting death of Henry F. Ackley, 58.
However, the indictment has been dismissed by the Cattaraugus County District Attorney’s Office in deference to the federal prosecution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Ruth will now only face his federal charges in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
District Attorney Lori Rieman said she was not available to discuss the case Tuesday evening.
Ruth had been set to face a trial in Cattaraugus County Court beginning Jan. 17, but the case was adjourned until February a few weeks ago at the request of Rieman’s office, said Cattaraugus County Public Defender Mark Williams, who had been representing Ruth.
“We had heard some rumors, but nothing concrete,” Williams said. “Now we know why they were adjourning.”
The federal charges against Ruth involve a conspiracy to distribute drugs in Erie and Cattaraugus counties between 2010 and 2013, according to the federal indictment.
“These federal charges solidify the gravity of Ruth’s criminal acts and history,” said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James Hunt in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The federal indictment also alleges Ruth shot Ackley in the chest during a burglary and robbery at Ackley’s 6263 Route 417 home in the Great Valley hamlet of Kill Buck. In a previous interview, Rieman told the Olean Times Herald Ruth shot Ackley with a revolver handgun as he was leaving the home and as Ackley got up to let his dog out.
At the time of his 2016 indictment, Ruth was serving a maximum of four years in Orleans Correctional Facility for an earlier conviction of second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a class D felony. According to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision inmate database, he had been released on parole for that charge Aug. 31.
Williams said Tuesday he believes Ruth is innocent in the Ackley murder, and that he had been looking forward to defending him. Ackley will likely be represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office or its appointed counsel.
“Looking at the evidence that the people had, I didn’t see any kind of evidence to indicate Jaron Ruth was involved in that murder at all,” Williams said. “I’m going to be watching this with great interest from afar.”
Williams added the case would have likely been his last trial in Cattaraugus County Court, as he said he plans to retire at the end of next month.
Ruth was arraigned Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy, and ordered detained pending a detention hearing Thursday. Williams said Cattaraugus County Assistant Public Defender Ben Smith was with Ruth during the court appearance.
“Ben said our client was very surprised and shocked by the turn of the events,” Williams said.
(Contact reporter Tom Dinki at tdinki@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @tomdinki)