A Jamestown woman has been sentenced to a year of probation for assault. U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced Friday that Alyssa Sheldon, 30, who was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer, was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer.

On May 17, 2022, an arrest warrant was executed, and Sheldon was taken into custody. On May 18, 2022, she made an initial appearance the U.S. Courthouse in the Western District of New York. During the proceeding, Sheldon was ordered remanded into custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. While being escorted back to her cell, Sheldon attempted to escape from custody. She resisted the escorting officer, kicking him below his waist. Sheldon continued to resist and attempted to spit in the officer’s face.

This case was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders.

In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Buffalo comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security Emergency Removal Operations, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Farhana Islam, New York Field Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Philip Tejera.