A Depew man was sentenced to five years of probation and fined $5,000 after driving through a security gate and onto active runways at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in May 2025.
James Muench Jr., 47, was convicted of entering an aircraft area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. imposed the sentence, federal prosecutors announced Friday, Oct. 16.
On May 20, 2025, Muench drove to a closed security gate outside the airport and initially stopped, prosecutors said. He then repeatedly rammed the gate with his vehicle, bending the metal structure.
Muench drove through the damaged, partially open gate and entered the airport’s aircraft operating area, according to prosecutors. His route took him along inner airfield roads and taxiways, through the commercial passenger aircraft ramp area and onto active runways.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz Wright prosecuted the case.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.
