Man sentenced to 20 years in connection to Sergeant death at Batavia Downs

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the death of a Genesee County Sheriff's Sergeant at the Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel earlier this year.

Michael Elmore, 33, was sentenced on first-degree aggravated manslaughter and second-degree obstructing governmental administration.

Elmore was part of a physical altercation at the Batavia casino in the early morning hours of March 10. Sergeant Thomas Sanfratello, who was on special assignment working at the hotel, escorted Elmore and Lyndsey Jean Wilcox, 39, out of the premises when Elmore became combative. During the altercation, Sanfratello, 54, suffered a "medical event" that led to his death. Sanfratello was a 32-year veteran of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office.

"It was senseless," Genesee County District Attorney Kevin Finnell said.

Elmore apologized to Sanfratello's family in court.

"Definitely some relief that he got the maximum sentence, that he'll go away for as long as he's going to go away for," Sanfratello's son Ian Sanfratello said. "We're relieved. The family is relieved."

"His attorney says it's heartfelt, I have no way of gauging that," Finnell said. "People in that situation oftentimes express their, I guess, remorse, and sometimes it is very heartfelt, and sometimes it is simply for their benefit. So I don't know."

Wilcox pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in November.  According to the Genesee County District Attorney, the plea was conditioned on a split sentence of no more than six months in jail with an additional five years of probation. She will be sentenced on Jan. 21.