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The man acquitted by a jury in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting that killed six adults and an unborn child will serve eight years in federal prison on an unrelated charge of possessing a stolen gun.
Defense attorney James Paulick said that his client agreed to the eight-year term because the prosecution said if they did not, it could have charged Shelton with another illegal firearm possession charge. That charge could have carried a 20-year sentence.
Shelton, who has been in custody since March 2016, is expected to get credit for the nearly five years time he has already served.
Man acquitted in cookout slayings pleads in firearms case bradfordera.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bradfordera.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sarah Kovash / 90.5 WESA
A man acquitted in the slayings of five people and an unborn baby at a western Pennsylvania cookout more than 4 1/2 years ago has pleaded guilty to a firearms charge in an unrelated case.
Cheron Shelton, 33, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. He was accused of having possessed a rifle and ammunition although a felony drug conviction barred him from owning a firearm.
The firearm charge came less than two weeks after Shelton was acquitted of first- and third-degree murder in the March 2016 shootings in Wilkinsburg. Charges in that case had been dismissed earlier against 31-year-old Robert Thomas. Authorities had alleged that he opened fire and Shelton then gunned down victims running onto a porch. Authorities alleged they were targeting someone Shelton believed was involved in the 2013 murder of a friend.
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Darnell Mahone logged in to the federal court hearing Tuesday to watch the man he believes killed his daughter in a mass shooting plead guilty to a gun charge.
It isn’t as much as he’d hoped for the plea agreement Cheron Shelton reached with the U.S. Attorney’s office calls for an eight-year prison sentence. Mahone said afterward, “it’s better than nothing.”
“We’re happy something was done after all the mess that happened with the other trial,” Mahone said.