PITTSBURGH—Gerard Porter has been convicted of committing heroin trafficking and firearms crimes, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Porter, 39, pled guilty today to possessing heroin with intent to distribute and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on Oct. 11, 2013. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond on Sept. 8, 2015, at 10 a.m.

In support of the guilty plea, Judge Diamond was informed that, on Oct. 11, 2013, Porter possessed more than 50 bricks of heroin, three loaded pistols, and $17,000 in cash that were found inside a house in Pittsburgh. The items were found inside the house after members of the Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force went to that location to serve five outstanding arrest warrants for Porter. Porter was not found inside the Shelton house on that date. He was apprehended in December 2013 inside a different house in the Pittsburgh area in possession of two cell phones and $1,900 in cash.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to life in prison, a fine of up to $2,250,000, or both.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the conviction in this case.