Giante Hilliard, Firearms and Drug Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2023

A former West Mifflin resident has pleaded guilty to multiple firearms and drug trafficking violations in federal court. Giante Hilliard, 30, pleaded guilty to four counts before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan on August 28, 2024.

The charges stem from three separate incidents in late March and late May of 2023. The first incident occurred on March 28, 2023, outside a McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, bar. Hilliard was involved in an exchange of gunfire with another individual. Video of the incident shows that, moments after Hilliard and another individual left the bar and started to drive off, a third person shot at the car they occupied. Hilliard returned fire from the vehicle’s passenger seat, with several muzzle flashes visible in the video.

On May 8, 2023, Hilliard was the passenger in a vehicle that law enforcement attempted to stop. Rather than complying, the driver rammed three law enforcement vehicles—allowing one of the officers to observe Hilliard with a black firearm—and sped off. Shortly after, law enforcement located the disabled vehicle abandoned near a convenience store. Nearby surveillance video showed the driver and Hilliard leaving the disabled vehicle together, and then splitting up, with Hilliard holding a black bag that he attempted to conceal under a dumpster.

The black bag was recovered by law enforcement and found to contain a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun and approximately 300 doses of what laboratory results later confirmed was a heroin and fentanyl mixture. Ballistic testing of the handgun against nearly a dozen 40 caliber casings from the earlier March 28 shooting determined the firearm to be a match with the one used by Hilliard in that earlier incident. The gun previously had been reported stolen.

Finally, on May 31, 2023, Hilliard posted on social media a video of himself with another firearm. Based on information from that video and other evidence gathered during the investigation, the government obtained a search warrant for a residence where Hilliard was hiding out and the vehicle that he had been driving. Law enforcement surrounded the house, but Hilliard refused to come out until several hours after officers fired multiple rounds of tear gas into the home.

Hilliard pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with the March 28 incident; possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in relation to the May 8 incident; and being a felon in possession of ammunition on May 31.

Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than five years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $1,750,000, or both. The case remains pending, with sentencing to be determined at a later date.

Hilliard had previously been convicted of a number of other felony offenses, including aggravated assault, possession of unlicensed firearms, and terroristic threats. Federal law prohibits possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.

Defendant: Giante Hilliard, 30, of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

Criminal Charges: Being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime

City and State: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Exact Date: August 28, 2024

Sentence or Outcome: Pending sentencing, with a total possible sentence of not less than five years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $1,750,000, or both

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/west-mifflin-felon-pleads-guilty-multiple-firearms-and-drug-trafficking-violations