A Penn Hills drug dealer caught with an arsenal that included a fully automatic rifle was sentenced last week to four years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge David Cercone on Thursday imposed that term on Anthony Bentley, 45, known as "Poundcake," to be followed by four years of probation.
Bentley has been detained since his arrest Aug. 28, 2018.
In December 2019, he pleaded guilty to a variety of gun, drug and money-laundering counts related to dealing cocaine and possessing guns.
As a felon, he wasn't allowed to have any weapons. Prosecutors said he had 32 of them.
His collection included an AK-47, a shotgun, the automatic weapon and numerous rifles and pistols.
Formerly of Homewood, Bentley had been charged with homicide in the 1990s but the case was withdrawn after a key witness refused to testify.
A federal grand jury indicted him on the current charges in August 2018.
He admitted that between May 2015 and January 2016 he was involved in dealing cocaine and that on Oct. 20, 2015, he distributed 489 grams of cocaine to an informant.
He also admitted that he laundered drug money by buying real estate in Homewood, Penn Hills and the Hill District. In one instance, he used a $156,000 cashier's check to buy a commercial property on Laketon Road in Penn Hills. He put down $20,000 toward another property nearby on Curtis Street.
Bentley also admitted to possession of guns and ammunition after police searched his various properties.
As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit $218,000 seized from his house.
In the homicide case, police charged him with shooting Franklin Locket following an argument at the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland in 1996.
The case fell apart after the key witness refused to testify at two coroner's inquests and then refused to answer questions at a third. The witness later claimed he could not identify the killer and in 1999 the district attorney's office withdrew the murder charges.
First Published: February 22, 2021, 9:23 p.m.