PITTSBURGH, PA – A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has pled guilty on a charge of possessing a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Cameo Witherspoon, age 33, formerly of the City’s Larimer neighborhood, pleaded guilty before Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on July 6, 2021, an officer with the Monroeville Police Department initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle due to an expired registration in Monroeville, PA. The driver, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, failed to immediately stop, and when he did, he quickly exited the vehicle to dispute the stop.
While interacting with law enforcement, the driver lied about his identity, misrepresented where the vehicle’s registration was located, locked and unlocked the vehicle three times, and dumped the contents of the glovebox onto a fanny pack within the vehicle. The officer then requested a K-9 unit, and the drug dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. Subsequently, law enforcement had the vehicle towed and applied for a search warrant. During the resulting search, law enforcement recovered a loaded handgun from the fanny pack in the vehicle.
Following the driver’s arrest, law enforcement determined that the driver was the defendant, Cameo Witherspoon, and that Witherspoon had an active warrant for a parole violation. As described in the Indictment, Witherspoon has multiple prior felony convictions in the Court of Common Pleas, County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For example, on May 31, 2013, Witherspoon pled guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 90-180 months. Under federal law, convicted felons are prohibited from the possession of firearms and ammunition.
Judge Wiegand scheduled sentencing for 10:00 am on March 2, 2023. The law provides for a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not more than three years and/or a special assessment of $100. 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 Witherspoon to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Monroeville Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Cameo Witherspoon.