DA seeks jail time as 2 adults plead guilty in Lewiston party house case

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Two adults pleaded guilty to charges related to supplying alcohol to minors at a “party house” in Lewiston spanning from 2016 to 2018, the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Gary Sullo pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, while Jessica Long pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully dealing with a child. Both are of Lewiston. Long and Sullo were neighbors in Lewiston during the crimes.

Sullo’s wife, Tricia Vacanti, had been arrested on similar charges in 2018, but died in 2022.

Sullo and Vacanti’s Mountain View Drive home was known as a party house and became notorious in the area for loud and out of control underage drinking parties. In 2019, a Lewiston teen was sentenced to two years of interim probation for the rape of a girl during a party at the home in November 2017. The parents of the victim also sued Sullo, Long and Vacanti in 2019.

New details into alleged “party house” in Lewiston

The Niagara County DA’s office said that Long was only charged in a single incident and pleaded guilty to the top charge against her.

“Sullo is subject to the same punishment that he would have been had be been found guilty of all counts after trial,” Niagara County DA Brian Seaman said in a statement. “We have also been clear that we believe that jail time is appropriate in this case given the ultimate outcome of the actions of Sullo and his codefendants.”