PITTSBURGH, PA – A former Pittsburgh resident has pleaded guilty after he stole a vehicle operated by an FBI agent last fall.
Lashawn Norwood, 57, of the City’s Middle Hill neighborhood, pleaded guilty to theft of government property before Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak.
Norwood stole a Ford Explorer parked near Schenley Park Oval on Sept. 28, 2021, containing firearms assigned to a special agent and owned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The vehicle was recovered a short time later in the Hill District section of the City of Pittsburgh, where one of the special agent’s service weapons had also been stolen. According to the FBI, Norwood’s DNA was detected on the exterior door handle and steering wheel of the Ford Explorer that was recovered after the vehicle was forensically processed.
Norwood denied stealing the vehicle and denied ever being inside it in an interview with the FBI.
The stolen FBI service weapon was ultimately recovered by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police on Nov. 12, 2021, after it was discovered in a post office box by a mail carrier in the Allegheny West section of the City of Pittsburgh.
Chief Judge Hornak has not yet scheduled a sentencing date. The law provides for a maximum total sentence 10 years in prison, a fine of $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,