The administrative judge who oversees the state courts in Western New York said she is hoping for the recovery of State Supreme Court Judge John L. Michalski, but has not talked with him since he was hit by a freight train in Depew.
Judge Paula L. Feroleto said she does not know at this point when Michalski will return to work.
Feroleto’s brief comments to a Buffalo News reporter on Wednesday were her first since Michalski, 59, suffered a severe leg injury in the Feb. 28 incident.
“We’re thinking about him and his family,” Feroleto said in a telephone interview. “He’s still in the hospital and we’re hoping he is doing much better.”
Three law enforcement sources told The News that the judge either fell or lay down on the railroad tracks shortly before he was struck by a slow-moving CSX Transportation freight train.
Asked if she has any information about how Michalski was hurt, Feroleto said, “I have no comment and no information.”
About two weeks before the train hit Michalski, federal law enforcement agents questioned the judge about his friendship with Peter G. Gerace Jr., according to Anthony J. Lana, an attorney assisting Michalski. Gerace, the owner of a Cheektowaga strip club, was indicted last month on charges of bribing Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni, narcotics trafficking and sex trafficking.
Gerace, who prosecutors said is the nephew of the leader of the Buffalo Mafia, has pleaded not guilty.
Depew Police are investigating the train incident, which occurred around 1 p.m. near the Amtrak station on Dick Road. Police said Michalski was “a pedestrian” when the train hit him.
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn, who reviewed the case at the request of Depew Police, said no other person was close to Michalski, and no one pushed or shoved the judge into the path of the train.
Feroleto is the administrative judge overseeing the state court system in eight counties of Western New York – Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming.
Michalski, a former Erie County and Town of Amherst prosecutor, has been a state judge since he was appointed to his position in 2006.
