05/09/2025
A message from Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck regarding yesterday's federal search warrant ex*****on at Nutrition Bar Confectioners - Cato NY.
On September 4th, 2025, our agency assisted U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with a planned criminal detail at Nutrition Bar Confectioners (NBC) located on State Route 34 in Cato, NY. Our participation in this investigation has generated many questions and concerns. It is my intent to address as many of these as I can with this statement.
Approximately one month ago, our agency was asked to assist with the ex*****on of a federal search warrant relative to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by HSI and other federal agencies. This warrant was requested and ultimately signed by a federal judge, authorizing federal agents to search NBC in Cato, NY, for evidence in support of an investigation into felony level crimes. During my entire career, our agency has always been committed to assisting our local, state, and federal agencies in conducting criminal investigations, and this case was no exception.
Yesterday at approximately 9:00 AM, nine members of our agency provided outside perimeter assistance to federal agents for the ex*****on of the search warrant. Cayuga County Sheriffβs Office members assisted with scene security, traffic management, and ensured that any children potentially impacted in our county by the enforcement actions of the federal agents at this event were immediately addressed. Federal Agents, along with a detective with the Cayuga County Sheriffβs Department, were specifically assigned to work directly with the Cayuga County Department of Social Services to ensure that children from two families in Cayuga County were immediately supported and connected with caretakers approved by their parents or guardians.
I have been asked about the use of local tax dollars to fund our participation in the ex*****on of this warrant. Our county to the north sits on an international border. As a result, we have partnered with U.S. Border Patrol for many years. They have provided funding to our agency for proactive overtime patrols at the north end of our county for years, and in 2011, they did provide funding for us to purchase the mobile command center that was pictured in many news media photos at NBC yesterday. Border Patrol fully funded this command center fourteen years ago, and we did provide it for use on this detail yesterday to assist with command coordination. Overtime funding for our members on yesterdayβs detail was also provided by our federal partners under a long-standing agreement that dates back many years.
This investigation is ongoing by HSI and does not directly involve our agency. Therefore, I cannot provide additional details relative to the warrant ex*****on, the crimes under investigation, or the ongoing case to fill in additional blanks. That will need to come from HSI.
As I have stated before, members of our sheriffβs office do not have independent authority to legally enforce civil immigration law under our NY State statutes. We did not directly enforce said laws yesterday. We did, however, provide the services previously mentioned to support public safety and further the goals of this criminal investigation, as we have always been committed to and will continue to be as a law enforcement agency.
Thank you
