Dante Richardson Deceives Public During Failed Campaign for Niagara County Legislature
- Niagara Action
- 5 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Dante Richardson, a violent convicted felon who ran for Niagara County Legislature and lost in 2025, has recently been the subject of a series of investigative pieces by Niagara Action. In those articles, this publication has uncovered that Richardson's entire public image has been, at least in part (you can decide to what degree), a lie. Before diving into his betrayal of public trust while campaigning to represent the residents of Niagara Falls, below is a recap of what we have learned so far:
Dante Richardson is a violent, convicted felon.
In 2014, he was convicted in Erie County Court of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for a violent home invasion that occurred in Buffalo in 2012. He is considered a violent felon under New York's penal code. Prosecutors alleged the home invasion was both calculated and violent. Once inside the home wearing masks and armed with a loaded .32 caliber pistol, Richardson and his accomplice repeatedly threatened the victim’s life while demanding money. He fled the residence when Buffalo Police arrived, escaping $10 in cash and a bag of condoms. The Judge sentenced him to 10 years in state prison. Richardson ultimately served eight years of that sentence before being released on parole in 2022, where he remained under supervision until 2023.
When applying for a sales director job at Buffalo Biodiesel, Dante Richardson purported to have various degrees and work experience relevant and required for the position. Once it was discovered this was a lie, he was terminated.
Richardson was fired from his employment at Buffalo Biodiesel, a Buffalo-based business that operates throughout the Northeast collecting used cooking oil from restaurants, on January 10th. According to multiple sources in the building who witnessed the termination, it was done with cause after an "outburst" with a "threat being made while being escorted out of the building by staff," according to a witness. When Richardson was hired at Buffalo Biodiesel in December of 2025, he represented to the company – in writing – that he had various degrees. According to sources in the company, this included a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester that was mentioned in his LinkedIn and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Stanford University.
As a result, he was purportedly hired at a salary north of $125,000. Niagara Action confirmed through sources who viewed documents, one of which was publicly available on Richardson’s own LinkedIn profile, and the other written on his application, showing that he indeed purported to have these two degrees. But there’s one problem––records show he does not have any degrees. According to a source at Buffalo Biodiesel who conducted a search through the National Student Clearinghouse, Richardson does not have a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, nor does he have any degree whatsoever from Stanford. In fact, just to make sure they weren’t making a mistake, the company asked Richardson to sign a release for the Registrar’s office at Stanford to release transcripts––which they say he refused to sign.
Dante Richardson is currently under investigation by the Buffalo Police Department for engaging in a scheme to defraud, grand larceny, and a threat made after being fired by Buffalo Biodiesel, according to sources at the company.
Between his hiring date and termination, Richardson was purportedly paid north of $12,000 from Buffalo Biodiesel. The company seeks to recoup the money, arguing it was taken under false pretenses via deception to get wages without intending to ever do the job, nor ever actually performing services. These facts led Buffalo Biodiesel to file a criminal complaint against Richardson with the Buffalo Police Department for fraud, which Buffalo Biodiesel says is actively being investigated. The Buffalo Police Department is also investigating the threat made after Richardson was terminated while being escorted out of the building. According to a source familiar with the situation, the staff member who walked him out was told by Richardson, referring to his violent criminal history, to "leave me alone and look me up [to see what I've done]."
Dante Richardson has fabricated his work history:
Starting in February 2007 (age 13), Richardson worked as an “Apprentice” at OLV Human Services. His jobs included the cleaning crew, catering services as a cook and server, prep cook and cashier, and gift shop salesperson.
Starting in June 2008 (age 14), Richardson was hired as an “Office Manager” at OLV Human Services working FULL TIME for 15 months conducting payroll for all the youth employees.
Starting in June 2009 (age 15), Richardson participated in an internship at M&T Bank under the direct supervision of Vice President Paul Collins.
Starting in June 2010 (age 16), Richardson participated in an internship at Morgan Stanley under the direct supervision of former Senior Vice President James Sexton III. In a phone call to OLV Human Services on January 16th, they confirmed 13-year-olds are not hired by their organization. In a phone call to M&T Bank on January 16th, they confirmed internships are not offered to 15-year-olds. In a call with Morgan Stanley’s Williamsville Office on January 16th, they confirmed that Morgan Stanley does not accept 16-year-old interns.
Moving forward several years to when Richardson was incarcerated between 2012 and 2020, he listed consistent employment during that time. This includes as an:
Agency Partner (2012 – 2016)
MusicTech Strategist (2017-2021)
However, it is also important to pay attention to where a few of these jobs occurred after Richardson was released from state prison as he was on parole and required to remain in the area.
MusicTech Strategist (2017-2021) was listed as being in New York City, New York.
Blockchain Adviser (2021-2022) was listed as being in Palo Alto, California.
Sr. Business Management Manager (2021-2022) was listed as being in New York City, New York.
Founder-in-Residence of Bubble (2022-2023) was listed as being in New York City, New York.
Niagara Action confirmed from sources at Buffalo Biodiesel that Richardson doubled down on this work history during his interview with the company and that his resume matched information publicly viewable on his LinkedIn profile.
In essence, these sources said that his employment history is “one giant con.”
“He was convincing,” said one source. “We believe in second chances and this is the sort of person who, at least presented himself, as deserving one. He fooled us. Boy did he fool us.”
These sources independently confirmed the falsity of his work history, especially as it came to AI.
“He was hired in large part due to his assertions in expertise with AI,” said the source. “As it turned out, he knew nothing about AI except to hand in reports entirely generated by AI in an attempt to pass it as his own.”
Deceiving the Public and Failure of the System to Allow it to Happen
When running for county legislature, Richardson came within 200 votes of winning, which given what we have learned is a frightening prospect. An ex-con who conned the public, Richardson deceived the those he sought to represent when he ran.
When the Niagara Gazette referred to him as the republican endorsed candidate, he did nothing to correct them despite not being endorsed by the Niagara County Republican Party, a fact Niagara Action has confirmed.
On his website, Richardson glosses over being in prison as a teenager––buried in the last paragraph of his "About Me" section. He gives no details of what that meant. However, he also is disingenuous in his description as the majority, as in more than 95%, of his prison term was in his 20's. He was arrested at age 18 in 2012 and convicted/sentenced in 2014.
Richardson was only out of prison for about three years when he decided to run for the Niagara County legislature, and only discharged from parole since 2023.
This is oddly similar to the lie he told at Buffalo Biodiesel on his employment application when he wrote that he was sentenced as a youthful offender for a gun charge, an obvious lie as he was 18 when the crime was committed.
Apart from his publicly available LinkedIn which voters no doubt viewed to see his experience and educational history, he also used deceptive graphics alluding to a Stanford education, as we have included below. This goes along with the information we provided above about his assertion to Buffalo Biodiesel that he has a graduate degree from Stanford, or "Standford" as he wrote it on the application.
As you can see, he deliberately used a graphic from Stanford stating "Graduate School of Education," of which he never attended.
Niagara Action did not cover the General Election, but shame on the local media for not doing their homework on Richardson. This information was not hard to find or difficult to piece together, despite his attempts to put on a façade.
Our next article will focus on Richardson's purported assertion to Buffalo Biodiesel that he was a youthful offender when sentenced in 2014.
Dante Richardson Deceives Public During Failed Campaign for Niagara County Legislature