Man acquitted in Wilkinsburg mass shooting gets 8 years for gun charge

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.

Cheron Shelton, 34, agreed to the sentence — which includes three years of supervised release — as part of a plea deal he reached with the U.S. Attorney’s office. The sentence was more than twice as long as the advisory guideline range.

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.

Shelton was initially arrested on gun and drug charges as police were investigating the March 9, 2016, shooting in Wilkinsburg.

During a search of his mother’s home on March 12, investigators recovered a Colt M4 .22-caliber rifle that had been stolen from Uniontown in 2015, as well as ammunition.

They did not find the guns used in the Franklin Avenue shooting.

Shelton, along with Robert Thomas, were ultimately charged with multiple counts of homicide and attempted homicide in that case.

However, the charges against Thomas were withdrawn by prosecutors the morning the trial was to start.

Shelton, who then went to trial alone, was found not guilty.

The U.S. Attorney’s office indicted him on one count of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon less than two weeks later.

In its sentencing memorandum, Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Maloney noted that Shelton is currently facing additional charges of conspiring to smuggle illegal drugs into the jail to sell them during his incarceration.

During sentencing on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab, Shelton did not address the court.

However, his father, Robert Shelton, spoke.

“That should be me sitting there because I’ve been a terrible father,” he said. “I didn’t know. I had no one to teach me.”

Robert Shelton said he should have been a better role model.

“Please, your honor, give him a break,” his father said. “Let him have another chance in life, please.”

Shelton’s mother and sister also spoke briefly.

Desdrene Smith asked Schwab for a fair sentence for her son.

“He’s a good person,” she said. “He would like to get his life back on track by going back to school.”

Shelton previously studied welding, she said.

His sister, Brittany Shelton, asked Schwab to be lenient so her brother could get back to his two children.

“He’s a really good male figure and father figure in our lives,” she said.