Oct 31, 2012 2 min read

A Canonsburg man will spend at least the next four years in prison for entering a borough home without permission and threatening to kill the people inside.George W. Schmidt Jr., 34, of 123 1/2 E. College St., Canonsburg, appeared Tuesday before Washington County Judge Janet Moschetta Bell. He pleaded guilty to charges of firearms not to be carried and criminal trespass and was sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison followed by 2 years of probation.Schmidt was arrested for entering the back door of the home of Nicole Welsh at 704 Valley View Terrace just before 9 p.m. May 26.Police initially received a report of a loud domestic dispute and that a man was inside the home with a gun. Police were given a description of the intruder, who left the house and was heading to a basketball court in the housing project.Two officers responded to Welsh’s home. One officer pulled his cruiser near the basketball court after seeing a man matching the description walking over to the fence and placing a white plastic bag on the ground.The officer drew his weapon and ordered the man, identified as Schmidt, to the ground, where he was taken into custody. Inside the bag, police found a .22-caliber Ruger handgun and drug paraphernalia. Schmidt has prior convictions that prohibit him from having a gun.Welsh told police she was sitting in the house with the doors open because of the heat as she waited for her child.Schmidt came in and she asked him to leave, knowing he was on the project’s “no trespass list” and did not have permission to be at the complex. Welsh told Schmidt she was calling police.Schmidt reportedly threatened to kill her. Kenneth Nance and Christopher Huellen also entered the home. They told police Schmidt lifted his shirt and indicated he had a gun before leaving the residence.Schmidt’s plea included a second case, in which he illegally entered a building in North Strabane Township May 25.