Man pleads guilty to drug charges
The man authorities believe may have been the intended target of a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg in March pleaded guilty and was sentenced on charges in an unrelated drug case Thursday in Washington County Court.
Lamont Powell, 24, appeared before Judge Valarie Costanzo and pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended license.
He was sentenced to serve three days to six months in jail.
He will be released following completion of the minimum sentence and serve the balance of the term on probation.
His driver’s license will be suspended for a year.
Powell was brought to Washington County jail Tuesday following his arrest in Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood on a bench warrant Costanzo issued June 28 when he failed to appear for a nonjury trial that day on the drug charges.
The charges stemmed from a 2014 traffic stop in South Strabane Township near the Beau Street interchange of Interstate 70.
State police said they found suspected marijuana in a vehicle Powell was driving. A sample of his blood later taken at Washington Hospital tested positive for the drug.
Powell was injured in a March 9 shooting at a cookout in Wilkinsburg. An unborn child and five adults died during the attack.
Cheron Shelton, 29, and Robert Thomas, 27, were charged June 23 with criminal homicide and other charges in connection with the massacre.
Authorities said they believe the alleged gunmen were targeting Powell, who police suspected in the 2013 death of Shelton’s friend, Calvin Doswell.
Powell was not charged in the case.
Powell received credit for time served in Washington County jail and was ordered to pay $1,200 in fines.
Costanzo also vacated the bench warrant she issued in the case.