PITTSBURGH—A resident of Farrell, Pa., was sentenced yesterday in federal court after pleading guilty to a charge of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

On June 10, 2014, Jashaad Coleman, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill. On Sept. 16, 2014, Judge Cohill sentenced Coleman to seven years in federal prison, to be served consecutively to the four to 11-year sentence Coleman is currently serving in Pennsylvania state custody for a firearm and robbery conviction.

In connection with the guilty plea and sentencing, the Court was advised that in the early morning hours of July 31, 2012, a vehicle carrying two individuals known to be associated with drug trafficking was stopped by officers employed by the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Department. Coleman knew that this vehicle was carrying a quantity of crack cocaine for distribution, and upon learning that this vehicle had been subject to a traffic stop, he rode to the scene of the stop. There, Coleman pulled out a 9mm firearm, which he discharged towards the officers, with the goal of distracting the officers from the vehicle that they had stopped. Law enforcement took cover, and both the occupants of the vehicle and the crack cocaine were not recovered by the police.

In February, 2013, Coleman was tried before a Mercer County jury for unauthorized possession of a firearm as it related to the abovementioned shooting. Coleman was acquitted of this crime. Federal charges were then brought resulting in the guilty plea to the federal firearms charge.

Assistant United States Attorney Eric S. Rosen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

The Pennsylvania State Police, the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police, the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Jashaad Coleman.