A former Erie County Clerk’s office employee has been sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge for official misconduct in a fraudulent pistol permit case.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A former Erie County Clerk’s office employee has been sentenced for fraudulently issuing a pistol permit.
Raymond A. Brinson, 32, of Buffalo was sentenced in Buffalo City Court to a one-year conditional discharge. He pleaded guilty in May to one count of official misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor.
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According to prosecutors, the Erie County Clerk’s Office was contacted in April 2025 after the New York State Police reported receiving coupons for four firearms tied to an Erie County resident who did not have a pistol permit on file.
The Clerk’s Office said it could not find documentation showing the resident had a permit, but records showed the resident’s application had been denied in March 2021. Prosecutors said Brinson entered the denial notation into the records while working for the office.
The resident later submitted another pistol permit application in June 2022. Prosecutors said Brinson entered a second denial notation on Sept. 6, 2022, but then approved and issued an unrestricted pistol permit on September 6, 2023. He also approved four coupons for the resident to purchase firearms.
Investigators later determined Brinson had communicated with the resident before issuing the permit and coupons, according to the district attorney’s office.
Brinson had already resigned from his position in August 2024 before the misconduct was discovered.