Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Gun Possession a Gun and Dealing Fentanyl/Cocaine Mixture

DOJ Press

PITTBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating federal narcotic and firearms laws, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

Hazeon Kidd, age 21 of the City’s Highland Park neighborhood, pleaded guilty to three counts before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on May 13, 2021, there was a shooting in Clairton, and Allegheny County Police detectives responded. They were following a separate vehicle, which had a brief interaction with a red Kia automobile occupied by four individuals. When the detectives drove by the Kia, which was parked, one of the detectives saw Jamiel Green and recognized him as someone who was wanted. Green had two outstanding warrants. The detectives then got out of their car and approached the Kia on foot. As they approached, Green got of the vehicle and began to run. A detective tased him and found a gun on his person. Green is a felon and therefore precluded under federal law from possessing a firearm.

When the detectives went back to the vehicle, they observed multiple firearms in plain view. Each of the three remaining occupants of the red Kia had a loaded firearm. Kidd was not a felon, but he admitted that he is a regular user of marijuana and was smoking on the day of the arrest. Users of illegal narcotics are not permitted under federal law to possess firearms.


Also found on Kidd’s person was what later laboratory results confirmed was thirteen grams of a fentanyl and cocaine mixture. The detectives also found more than $10,000 in the vehicle and other evidence indicating that the occupants were involved in drug trafficking. Kidd was arrested that day and he was released on bond. The conditions of bond included, among other conditions, that the defendant not violate any federal law.


Despite that condition, the defendant continued to sell fentanyl and cocaine. The North Huntington Police Department developed a confidential informant who indicated that he regularly purchased drugs from an individual later identified as the defendant. The confidential informant, working under the direction of the North Huntington Police Department contacted the defendant via cell phone and arranged for a three-gram purchase for $600. Ultimately, the transaction occurred outside of a hotel room and the detective was able to observe the transaction. Directly after the transaction, officers arrested Kidd. Kidd was in possession of the pre-recorded buy money and the cell phone he used to arrange for the transaction. The State Police laboratory determined that substance purchase from Kidd was a fentanyl and cocaine mixture, and that the weight was approximately three grams.

Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for August 24, 2022, at 1:45 p.m.. The law provides for a term of imprisonment not more than 45 years in prison, a fine of $2,250,000, or both.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Pending sentencing, the court remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Allegheny County Police Department and the North Huntington Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Kidd.

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