Felon sentenced for ordering ammo that was delivered to wrong Canonsburg address
A convicted felon living in Canonsburg who ordered a thousand rounds of ammunition that was mistakenly delivered to a neighbor in July 2019 pleaded guilty to one federal charge Monday and was sentenced to time served.
Harry C. Wesler III pleaded guilty to one count of shipment or transporting of ammunition in interstate commerce and will now spend two years on supervised release following his sentencing by Chief Judge Mark R. Hornak in federal court in Pittsburgh.
Wesler, 51, was a convicted felon when he ordered 1,000 bullets for a handgun on July 12, 2019, that was accidentally delivered to his Cecil Street neighbor, raising alarm bells for nearby residents who were already concerned about his erratic behavior. The neighbor contacted Canonsburg police and gave officers the box of ammunition, while also telling investigators that several nearby residents slept in shifts because they were worried “something bad was going to happen” involving Wesler, according to court documents.
Due to a prior conviction, Wesler is a felon and unable to possess firearms or ammunition.
He was arrested in July 2013 following a neighborhood dispute when he lived in Peters Township in which police there said he was intoxicated and drove his lawn tractor onto a neighbor’s property, getting it stuck. He later drove his car onto the property in an attempt to remove the lawn tractor, but that vehicle also became stuck. When officers arrived, they found Wesler driving the car from the scene on a flatbed tow truck.
He pleaded guilty to second offense DUI and trespassing by motor vehicle in December 2013 and was sentenced to 6 to 18 months of electronic home monitoring.
Wesler eventually relocated to the 101 Cecil St. residence in May 2018, according to court documents. Canonsburg police previously said they had been called to Wesler’s residence 14 times for mental health checks in the 15 months he lived at the address in the borough.
After the ammunition was sent to the wrong residence on July 17, Canonsburg police opened a joint investigation with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Wesler told Canonsburg investigators the following day that he was in possession of a handgun and had ordered ammunition, according to court documents. He was charged in federal court a week later with attempted possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
Wesler was held at the Allegheny County jail until last May when he was released on various conditions. In addition to being sentenced to time served and facing two years of supervised release, Wesler was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.