Man Avoids 5-10 Year Mandatory Sentence for Possession, PWID, and Carrying a Firearm Without License

We recently helped an unemployed man in his mid-30s avoid criminal charges that included carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a controlled substance, and possession with the intent to deliver. At the time of the alleged offense, police had been conducting surveillance at a residence in Pittsburgh. The police observed our client parking a vehicle in front of the residence and then removing an unknown item from his right waist before placing it in the interior center console of the vehicle. The police used a flashlight to see a firearm protruding from the console and arrested him when he got back to the car. They then searched our client’s vehicle and found drugs.

Our Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyers filed a motion to suppress, citing police misconduct. The police failed to investigate whether the client was in fact licensed to carry a firearm, thereby coercing him to get into the vehicle. This was not supported by probable cause.

At the time he hired us, our client had been in jail for a while because he had missed a court date. He was facing a mandatory 5-10 year sentence if convicted under the laws at that time, and we were able to secure him a plea agreement that involved no jail time served and immediate release from jail.

The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.