Kidnap suspect pleads in Pennsylvania
Feb. 26—FRANKLIN, Pa. — A Western New York man will remain in custody in a Pennsylvania county prison after pleading guilty to state charges there stemming from his alleged kidnapping of a North Tonawanda teen.
During a preliminary hearing in Venango County Court on Wednesday, Michael Mesko, 50, of Depew, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance and criminal mischief. Prosecutors withdrew seven other charges, including counts of endangering welfare of children, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and driving at an unsafe speed.
Pennsylvania State Police said they encountered Mesko on Feb. 16, after he was spotted at a rest stop just off Interstate 80 near Harrisville, Pennsylvania. Mesko had been the subject of a multi-state Amber Alert, issued the previous night by North Tonawanda police.
NTPD detectives said at that time that they were working with agents from the Buffalo field office of the FBI to investigate a possible abduction of a 17-year-old girl.
In the alert, the detectives said the victim had been picked up near 908 Niagara Falls Blvd. at about 7 p.m. Feb. 15 and that "it became evident that (she) did get into a car owned by Michael Mesko whom she had a full stay away order of protection against."
North Tonawanda police have not commented on what, if any, relationship Mesko may have had with the teen victim.
Court records did not indicate if Mesko had been sentenced on his guilty pleas. The original criminal docket in his case indicated that Mesko had been unable to post $5,000 bail and that he had requested to be represented by a public defender.
The Gazette has learned that as a result of Mesko's guilty pleas, he is now being held at the Venango County Prison on a pair of criminal detainers. One of the detainers is from the U.S. Marshals Service, while the other is from the Niagara County District Attorney's Office.
Mesko was arraigned in North Tonawanda City Court on Feb. 4 on charges of second-degree rape and second-degree criminal sex. He was released from custody on Feb. 10 after Niagara County prosecutors declined to conduct a preliminary hearing in the case.
Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said in a statement that decision stemmed from a NT City Court judge's earlier ruling to only set bail in the case at $1,000.
"When (Mesko) was arraigned we asked for $10,000 cash bail. The court set bail at $1,000," Seaman said in the statement. "Faced with the inevitable release of the defendant, given the bail amount, my office determined not to subject our witnesses to testimony and cross-examination at a preliminary hearing. My office often has to weigh the cost of running the hearing, which is subjecting witnesses to testimony and cross-examination that can be quite uncomfortable, against the benefit of continuing the bail if the hearing is successful. In this case, my office determined that given the bail amount, and the very high likelihood that the defendant would be able to post that bail in short order, it would not make sense to subject our witnesses to the preliminary hearing."
On Thursday, Seaman told the Gazette that his office had asked Pennsylvania authorities to hold Mesko, pending a return to New York to face additional charges here. Seaman said prosecutors have already filed a request in North Tonawanda City Court asking for an increase in bail for Mesko.
The DA said additional charges are expected to be filed against Mesko stemming from the kidnapping.
The teen, who was with Mesko when he was taken into custody in Pennsylvania, was not harmed and has been returned to Western New York.
