Rochester mayor, husband, plead not guilty to gun charges

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a police raid of her home in May

Rochester Mayor Charges (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a police raid that allegedly turned up a rifle and pistol, and her 10-year-old daughter alone, in the home she shares with her husband.

A grand jury indicted Warren and her husband Timothy Granison last week on a felony count of criminal possession of a firearm, as well as misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and having unsecured guns in a home.

Warren and Granison pleaded not guilty during brief court appearances and left without speaking with reporters.

Warren's attorney, Joseph Damelio, said the mayor didn't know about the guns and that he was eager to review the prosecution's evidence.

Authorities searched the family's home May 19 as part of a cocaine trafficking investigation, investigators said at the time. Granison was charged with drug and weapons counts and pleaded not guilty. Additional charges against him were added last month.

Warren, who has said she signed a separation agreement with Granison years ago, has not been charged in the drug case.

The two-term mayor lost her reelection campaign last month when she was defeated in the Democratic primary for mayor by City Councilmember Malik Evans.

Warren was indicted in October on charges she broke campaign finance rules during her 2017 reelection campaign. She has said any errors were honest mistakes.