Ashley Knopf

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced Monday that 34-year-old Ashley Knopf of Leon was sentenced to a determinate sentence of four months in jail followed by five years of probation.

Knopf admitted that she befriended a 62-year-old man in order to commit a larceny. She convinced the victim that she needed money to pay her medical bills while receiving treatment at an out-of-state facility.

Between December of 2018 and February of 2020, Knopf stole a total of $177,488.00 from the victim.

The evidence showed that Knopf was in Western New York while committing the crime.

Knopf pleaded guilty a second-degree grand larceny charge, a class C felony, on Dec. 22. This was the highest charge she could have been convicted of at trial.

As part of her sentence, State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek ordered the Leon woman to make full restitution to the victim; Knopf signed a confession of judgement to pay $177,488.00.

Flynn commends DA Confidential Criminal Investigators Natalie Perez and Phil Torre for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by assistant district attorney Gary M. Ertel of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau.