Canton man sentenced for firearms violation
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A Canton Township man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to violating a federal firearms law after he was found with a handgun following an incident almost four years ago that started at a Washington bar.
Ronnie Gardner, 45, whose last known address was on Marra Avenue, pleaded guilty to the firearms violation and then was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer.
Washington police were called in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 2010, for a reported fight at Comfort Lounge, 1187 Jefferson Ave. South Strabane Township police were in the area and also responded.
A woman approached the township police officer and told him that the father of her child was “jumped” inside the bar. City and township police went inside the bar, finding broken bottles and glass. One woman was bleeding from the nose.
Police were told that a handgun had been brandished during the altercation and that those involved fled in a white vehicle.
After leaving the bar, township police were on Maple Avenue heading back to North Main Street to resume patrol when they spotted a white Ford Taurus pull out of Maple Terrace and turn onto Maple. Police ran the registration and learned the car was reported stolen to Canonsburg police.
Gardner was a passenger in the car when it was stopped by police at the intersection of Ohio and Sheffield streets in Canton. A black pouch containing .45-caliber ammunition was found where Gardner was sitting in the vehicle. Police also found a semiautomatic handgun in the car under a child safety seat.
Washington police initially charged Gardner with persons not to possess a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license. Those charges were withdrawn and the case switched to federal jurisdiction when Gardner failed to accept a plea deal with the Washington County district attorney’s office, said state police Trooper Timothy Motte.
Motte at the time had been assigned to work with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Motte said Gardner served a 10-year sentence for a prior federal conviction on gun charges.