Repeat offender sentenced for harassing member of sheriff’s office at Highmark Stadium

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Hamburg man was sentenced Tuesday evening in connection with threatening statements he made towards an official at Highmark Stadium in 2022, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Around 9:10 p.m. on July 23, 47-year-old John Gugino was ejected from a Garth Brooks concert at Highmark Stadium for profanity, but refused to leave, officials said. He struggled with deputies while being escorted out of the stadium and made multiple threatening statements toward a member of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

Gugino, a former jail deputy, was sentenced Tuesday to a one-year conditional discharge. He received the same sentence in July 2022 for cocaine possession in 2020.

In October 2023, Gugino was arraigned in Orchard Park Town Court on one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of third-degree assault for allegedly driving through a barricade at Highmark Stadium. He appeared in court Tuesday night for further proceedings.

It is alleged that just before 3:40 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2023, Gugino knowingly disobeyed the commands of an Erie County Sheriff’s deputy and posted road closure signs near Highmark stadium. Officials say Gugino drove through a barricade into a portion of Abbott Road that was closed due to a Bills game.

A deputy suffered from injuries to his right arm and shoulder as he attempted to stop Gugino, according to the DA’s Office.

Gugino faces a maximum of one year in jail. He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 26 for motions and remains released on his own recognizance.

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.