Hon. H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr.

2000 – present 

Federal Judicial Service: 

  • Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York.  Entered duty on June 1, 2000, and reappointed to additional eight-year terms in 2008, 2016 and 2024. 

Education: 

  • University of Buffalo School of Law, J.D., 1961 
  • Judge E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship, Georgetown University Law School, resulting in L.L.M.. and Certificate of Proficiency in Trial Advocacy, 1961-1962 
  • Canisius College, B.S., 1958

Professional Career: 

  •  Private Practice, Hodgson, Russ, Andrews, Woods & Goodyear, LLP, 1964-1969, 1972-2000 
  •  United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, 1969-1972 
  •  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 1963 
  •  Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., Criminal Division, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, 1962-1963

Noteworthy Cases:  

United States v. Goba, et al., No. 1:02-MJ-00107: 

On the one-year anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Buffalo Division of the FBI presented Judge Schroeder with a criminal complaint charging six U.S. citizens from Lackawanna, New York with conspiring to provide and attempt to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization based upon their travel to an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan several months prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.  Judge Schroder presided over their initial appearances and detention hearings, which received international media attention. 

United States v. Goba, 220 F. Supp. 2d. 182 (W.D.N.Y. 2002)
https://casetext.com/case/us-v-goba-wdny-2002?q=Goba&sort=relevance&p=1&type=case 

 

 

United States v. Benatta, No. 1:01-CR-00247: 

A member of the Algerian Air Force who had completed aviation training in the United States under a nonimmigrant B-1 visitor visa attempted to enter Canada to apply for asylum but was returned to the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on September 12, 2001, and charged as removable as an alien who had remained in the United States longer than authorized.  On September 16, 2001, without opportunity to confer with counsel, he was taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn New York where he was held in special housing as a high security detainee and interrogated by FBI agents assigned to the Terrorist Task Force.  Although an indictment was returned on December 12, 2001, defendant was not arraigned until April 9, 2002.  While recognizing that the events of September 11, 2001, necessitated extraordinary action by the government to prevent further acts of terrorism and to apprehend all those involved in those despicable acts, Judge Schroeder determined that defendant had been subjected to undue and oppressive incarceration in violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and that his rights under the Speedy Trial Act had been violated.  The Hon. John T. Elfvin adopted Judge Schroeder’s report and recommendation and dismissed the indictment. 

United States v. Benatta, 2003 WL 22202371 (W.D.N.Y. 2003)
https://casetext.com/case/us-v-benatta 

 

 

United States v. Swindle, No. 1:02-CR-00118: 

In United States v. Swindle, 407 F.3d 562, cert. denied, 546 U.S. 913 (2005), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit considered an issue of first impression and found that even though law enforcement clearly abused their authority when they initiated a stop of defendant’s automobile, they were constrained to affirm Judge Schroeder’s report and recommendation, adopted by the Hon. William M. Skretny, denying defendant’s motion to suppress the seizure of a plastic bag of crack cocaine.  Judge Schroeder’s decision was based on the fact that defendant failed to stop as directed by law enforcement and was not physically apprehended until after he had been observed violating traffic laws, discarding the plastic bag from the automobile window, and fleeing the automobile on foot. 

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1278806.html