Mayor Byron W. Brown's son was spared a criminal conviction Monday when a judge granted him and a longtime friend delayed dismissals on shoplifting charges, as recommended by prosecutors. It was the second encounter with the courts in three years for Byron W. Brown Jr.

Buffalo City Judge David M. Manz warned him and Xavier Jemison that they have to complete a four-hour shoplifting class and stay out of trouble for the next six months. He granted each an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, meaning their petit larceny charges will be dismissed if they comply with his orders.

The judge also warned they can no longer enter any A.J. Wright store, including the one at 2683 Delaware Ave., where Jemison briefly worked as a cashier before he and Brown tried to make off with nearly $58 in clothing and an iPod stereo boom box July 31.

Jemison, of Williamstowne Court, Cheektowaga, was fired after the thefts and accused of letting Brown take the merchandise without paying while he was working the checkout. He had begun working at the store July 5.

Susan H. Sadinsky, chief of the Erie County district attorney's City Court Bureau, told the judge the ACDs agreed to by District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III were the "standard offer" to such first-time shoplifters who lack prior criminal records.

Neither Brown, 19, dressed in a gray business suit, nor Jemison, 20, who wore a vest, white shirt and tie, spoke during the brief court session or afterwards. Joel L. Daniels, Brown's attorney, and Joseph A. Agro, Jemison's attorney, told the judge their clients accepted the plea deal.

The judge told both defendants that if they complete the shoplifting course and stay out of trouble for next six months, their misdemeanor petit larceny charges will automatically be dismissed Feb. 9, 2011.

Daniels and Agro described their clients, who have been friends since both attended City Honors School, as good kids who did something they now regret. Daniels said Brown also "faces consequences" at home from his father and mother.

Daniels said Brown is an honors student at Erie Community College and will be a sophomore this fall at Binghamton University. Jemison also reportedly is a college student, but neither he nor his attorney would identify his school.

In 2007, Brown, then 16, took the family SUV for a neighborhood joy ride that ended with him ramming three parked vehicles. The mayor first insisted that his son was not involved and that the family SUV had been stolen but later had to retract that claim after his son admitted his role in the incident, which was caught on a surveillance camera.

In that case, he pleaded guilty to traffic tickets charging him with unlicensed driving and leaving the scene of a hit-and-run property-damage accident without reporting it. He was fined $275.

After the July 31 shoplifting arrest, the mayor said he and his wife were disappointed about what he characterized as their son's "second mistake."

mgryta@buffnews.comnull