A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal gun crimes, one in connection with a shooting at a 2015 vigil for a slain Homewood man, and to possession of drug-soaked paper in jail that he intended to distribute to other inmates.
Chance Rice, 26, will be sentenced in June by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
The U.S. attorney's office said Rice, a felon, was the subject of three investigations by police and federal agents that began after a shootout during the Sept. 16, 2015, vigil in Homewood for Anton Smith, 19, who had been shot a year earlier.
During the candlelight ceremony, gunmen opened fire on the attendees, several of whom fired back. A woman, a 12-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy were wounded in the crossfire.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross Lenhardt said the toddler suffered permanently disabling injuries.
One of the guns used in the shooting was later recovered by city police in the possession of Keith Lovelace, who was charged in federal court and convicted of possession of a gun by a felon.
Mr. Lenhardt said an investigation by police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revealed that Rice had sold Lovelace the gun.
Witness testimony and a picture of the gun on Rice's cell phone proved he possessed it, and because he's a felon he can't have a weapon.
The gun had actually changed hands several times after the shooting.
Agents said Rice bought it from a friend, Allen Bailey, who was murdered in 2017, and that Bailey got it from Ronald Dotson.
Mr. Lenhardt said Dotson has been charged with the vigil shooting following an investigation by a state grand jury and is pending trial.
"In sum," said Mr. Lenhardt, "the pistol was possessed by Ronald Dotson during the shooting, then Allen Bailey, then Chance Rice and then Keith Lovelace."
Rice also was involved in a second ATF gun investigation.
Mr. Lenhardt said Rice’s ex-girlfriend, Chelsea Berry, bought a pistol after Rice told her someone shot at him and that she needed a gun for her own protection. He said Ms. Berry, who has no criminal record, bought a Glock pistol on Sept. 30, 2015, choosing that model because it's the type her mother, a police officer, owns and because she had fired that kind of gun before.
Rice then took possession of the gun. Police in Edgewood stopped his car on Oct. 31, 2015, and saw the gun near the driver's seat and a spent shell casing on the dashboard, but Rice took off. He was caught on Dec. 18, 2015. Recorded jail calls revealed him asking others to take the gun to his friend, Andrae Pride, to keep in his safe. In March 2016, Pride and his girlfriend went to a gun show in Butler during which she bought pistols and bulletproof vests. While they were gone, state parole agents searched Pride's house and found the Glock bought by Berry in the safe. They also found heroin.
Pride, another felon, is under indictment in federal court for gun and drug and possession.
The third case against Rice developed after he'd been placed in jail in Butler County on the federal charges.
A search of his cell in July 2018 turned up paper soaked with synthetic marijuana.
Rice admitted that it was his and that he was going to provide it to other inmates.
Torsten Ove: tove@post-gazette.com.
First Published: February 13, 2019, 1:46 p.m.