A man who lied to a federal grand jury about a murder that he witnessed was sentenced to 60 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release on November 6, 2020.
Demetrius “Little D” Lowry, 25, of Buffalo, NY, pled guilty to obstruction of justice in October 2019. His sentencing was delayed due to Covid-19.
The murder of Jaquan Sullivan
According to prosecutors, Lowry’s best friend, Dalvon Curry, was a member of the CBL/BFL gang. The gang operated out of the Towne Gardens Apartments on the east side of Buffalo. CBL/BFL had a shoot-on-sight rivalry with a gang that was located on the west side called the Guys.
Lowry lived in the Guys’ territory, and he had a cousin named Jaquan Sullivan who was a member of the gang. Sullivan had shot at CBL/BFL members on several occasions.
On the evening of December 5th, 2015, Curry and Sullivan got into a shootout in front of Lowry’s house on Parkdale Avenue. Sullivan was struck twice and died from his injuries.
Curry was observed on surveillance video at a nearby convenience store recorded minutes before the shooting.
The government suggested that Curry went out hunting for Sullivan, while the defense claimed that Sullivan was the aggressor and the shooting was justified.
Sullivan reportedly said “you know what time it is” before the shooting started.
Curry had been arguing with Sullivan on social media in the weeks leading up to the shooting. He tweeted about the shooting in January 2016: “[B]eef is when we both armed and shoot until someone is dead.”
Curry was convicted of two murders in aid of racketeering and multiple other charges in February 2020.
Lowry’s interactions with law enforcement
Three days after the shooting, Lowry met with homicide detectives and provided two written statements. One of the statements included details of the shooting and the identity of the shooter. The interview was videotaped.
Later that month, Lowry sent a text message to a police confidential tip line stating that the information he had previously provided was wrong and he did not know who shot Sullivan.
In February 2016, Lowry admitted to homicide detectives that the tip line message was not true, and wrote “not true” on a copy of the message.
On July 12, 2018, Lowry was interviewed by FBI agents and he gave them different information about the identity of the shooter.
Lowry’s grand jury testimony
On July 31, 2018, Lowry testified under oath before a federal grand jury investigating the CBL/BFL gang and the murder of Sullivan. When asked about his first meeting with detectives, Lowry claimed that they didn’t let him tell his side of the story, and that they had him sign blank pages. He denied writing “not true” on a copy of the tip line message during his second meeting with detectives. Lowry said that he met with the FBI in July 2018 but they didn’t ask him about the shooting.
Lowry’s sentencing submission
Lowry’s attorney, R. Thomas Burgasser, said that his client is very sorry for his actions. According to Burgasser, Lowry grew up in a rough neighborhood and was mostly raised by his mother. He said that Lowry sustained a head injury at the age of 16, and suggested that it may have affected his ability to understand people. Burgasser said that Lowry worked as a general laborer until he sprained his wrist working on a garbage truck.
Prior to the plea deal, Lowry was facing up to 20 years in prison. The government took the position that Lowry was an accessory after the fact. Both sides eventually agreed on a sentence of 60 months in prison.