Hector Rosas

It’s been nearly three years since a former Dunkirk City Festivals Director was arrested on allegations of public corruption, including stealing thousands of dollars.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt said he expects the case will go to trial this year.

Starting in 2016, Rosas ran the city’s summer festival programs through the Dunkirk Local Development Corporation, while his brother was mayor.

As Festivals Coordinator, from the summer of 2016 to the summer of 2019, Rosas was responsible for collecting and depositing cash generated from beer sales at the annual summer festivals. The investigation allegedly revealed that over $42,000 in cash sales were collected by Rosas but never reported or deposited in the festivals’ account.

Separately, Rosas oversaw fundraising efforts to aid the people of Puerto Rico in recovering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria. Rosas collected nearly $15,000 in donations from citizens, schools and civic groups.

The investigation allegedly revealed that all of these funds were transferred by Rosas from the city’s festivals bank account, which he controlled, to his personal bank account. Although Rosas visited his mother’s home in Puerto Rico and spent some of the funds, he could produce no receipts, nor could he account for the money collected.

In May, 2023, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Schmidt announced the indictment against Rosas, charging him with Rosas was charged in May 2023 with two counts of third-degree grand larceny and two counts of public corruption.

Part of the reason for the delay is because there had been talk about seeing if Rosas would pay back the missing money as part of a plea agreement. At this point, Schmidt does not expect a settlement before trial.

Right now, the District Attorney’s Office is waiting for Judge Stephen Cass to schedule a hearing regarding some statements made by Rosas to see if they are admissible for trial by the prosecution.

Once that is done and Cass rules on some other legal issues, the case would be placed on the trial calendar. “In my head I’m thinking, realistically third or fourth quarter” for a trial date, Schmidt said.