A State Supreme Court justice who was the subject of a multi-year investigation by federal and state law enforcement officials has died by suicide at his home in Amherst.
John Michalski, 61, apparently took his life Tuesday. His defense attorney, Terrence Connors, told the Buffalo News that he learned of the death late Tuesday morning.
Connors said he had met with Michalski last week and characterized the judge's legal troubles as "manageable."
Michalski had returned to the bench in January, after taking nearly a year off following an incident in which he stepped in front of a train in February 2021.
Federal and state officials, with a search warrant, raided his home on March 24, but neither they nor Connors revealed what was seized or being sought.
Media reported last year that Michalski had been questioned about his relationship with Peter Gerace, owner of Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga. Gerace was later arrested on drug and sex trafficking charges.
Michalski earned his law degree from the University at Buffalo in 1987, worked at the Erie County District Attorney's Office 1987-1990, had his own law practice 1991-2006 and was Amherst town prosecutor 2000-2006 before becoming a judge in 2006, according his profile in the New York Law Journal.
