A former Pittsburgh defense lawyer who once boasted in a quirky online ad seen worldwide that he thinks "like a criminal" admitted Tuesday that he is one.
Daniel Muessig pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession of marijuana following a 2019 investigation by an FBI task force.
Muessig, 39, of Squirrel Hill, admitted that his apartment on Covode Street was a stash house and base of operations for the network.
Muessig made headlines around the globe in 2014 with an in-your-face YouTube ad that featured his pals pretending to commit crimes and him asking: "Need a criminal defense lawyer? Then you should hire a lawyer who thinks like a criminal."
He also said that laws are "arbitrary" and that he truly understands his clients.
Even if he really didn't then, he does now because he became a felon when he entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab.
Muessig was indicted this summer along with Hector Rodriguez on charges of distributing marijuana in April and May of 2019.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Jordan said that the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force in April 2019 obtained wiretaps on a phone used by drug dealer Chadlin Leavy of Wilkins, the heroin and cocaine supplier for the "SCO" drug gang in Braddock who has since gone to prison.
The taps revealed that Leavy was also dealing marijuana and that his source was Jared Eck.
The wiretap showed that Eck resupplied Leavy on Fridays. Prior to meeting with Leavy, Eck would meet up with Wayne Barker, who operated the stash house with Muessig, to get marijuana.
Agents watched Eck and others carrying large trash bags, usually with a sticker indicating the type of marijuana, out of the apartment and putting them in vehicles parked on the street.
The wire revealed that Leavy and Eck were going to meet on May 24, 2019, after Eck met with his supplier. Agents and police set up surveillance and saw Muessig carrying a backpack and enter the Covode Street apartment. A few minutes later, Wayne Barker pulled up in a Jeep, walked in with a shopping bag, then walked back out to get a vacuum sealer from the Jeep and go back inside the building.
Law officers then saw a Dodge Charger arrive with two men inside, one of them Rodriguez. They met Muessig at the front door and went inside. Wayne and William Barker came out of the residence as a Dodge Ram pulled up with Eric Vanderslice at the wheel. Several men unloaded boxes from the Ram and took them inside the house.
Muessig and Rodriguez left the building carrying two big boxes and put them in the Ram, which Vanderslice then drove away.
Law enforcement followed and pulled it over. Inside, agents found $400,000 in the boxes that Muessig and Rodriguez had been carrying.
A search of the apartment turned up numerous boxes of marijuana, packaging material, the vacuum sealer and a money counter.
Ms. Jordan said the marijuana weighed 404 pounds.
She said Muessig was responsible for the sale and distribution of between 100 and 400 kilos of marijuana.
Judge Schwab set sentencing for March. Muessig faces a mandatory five years in prison.
Vanderslice, Eck and Wayne Barker have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Cases against William Barker and Hector Rodriguez are pending.
Torsten Ove: tove@post-gazette.com.
First Published: November 16, 2021, 10:07 p.m.
