Buffalo man convicted of murdering federal informant

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- A Buffalo man will be spending the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of murdering a federal informant, the U.S. District Attorney's Office announced Friday.

Alphonso Payne, 29, was convicted of murdering Joshua Jalovick on July 1, 2019. Officials said that from 2016-19, Payne and co-defendant Gregory Hay -- who was previously convicted on several charges related to this incident -- sold cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin in Salamanca before selling drugs in Olean.

After Hay's house was searched by members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Buffalo Police on May 7, 2019, Hay and Payne suspected Jalovick to be a police informant and murdered him in the backyard of Payne's former home in Schiller Park, 87 Freund St., on July 1, officials said. Officials said Payne shot Jalovick with a semi-automatic pistol in front of several witnesses, and then Hay stood over Jalovick and shot him an additional five times with a revolver.

Payne was convicted of the following charges:

• Murdering a federal informant
• Conspiracy to murder a federal informant
• Conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and distributing cocaine
• Possessing with intent to distribute and distributing cocaine
• Conspiring to retaliate against a federal informant
• Retaliating against a federal informant
• Discharge of a firearm in furtherance of crimes of violence and a drug trafficking crime
• Discharge of a firearm causing death in furtherance of crimes of violence and a drug trafficking crime

Payne's official sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27. Hay is awaiting sentencing.