Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years in Prison for Drug and Gun Law Violations
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 4 years and 9 months (57 months) of imprisonment and six years of Supervised Release on his conviction of charges involving guns and drugs, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Chance Rice, 26, formerly of 8612 Bricelyn Street, Pittsburgh, Pa, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts before United States District Judge Cathy M. Bissoon.
According to information presented to the Court, Rice was involved in three separate federal investigations. The first occurred as a result of the September 16, 2015, candlelight vigil shooting. There, multiple people were injured, and multiple guns were fired, as family members and friends held a vigil for the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of a teenage boy in Homewood. The joint investigation between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police (PBP) revealed that the person who fired one of the guns during the vigil shooting later transferred his gun to an individual who was subsequently shot and killed. Before his death, that person transferred the gun to Rice, and Rice transferred it to a defendant named Keith Lovelace. Lovelace and Rice have both been prosecuted in federal court, while the shooter is pending state charges.
The second incident started when Rice told his former girlfriend that he had recently been shot at and that she needed to buy a gun for her own protection. Rice quickly obtained possession of that gun. On October 31, 2015, Edgewood Police officers stopped the vehicle Rice was driving and noticed a spent casing on the dashboard and a black pistol in the car. Rice fled in the vehicle and was a wanted fugitive until his December 18, 2015 arrest. Rice had prior Allegheny County felony convictions in 2014 for carrying a firearm without a license and for dealing cocaine. These convictions made it illegal for Rice to subsequently possess a firearm or ammunition, under federal law.
Rice was being housed in the Butler County Jail (BCJ) while awaiting his trial. On July 10, 2018, the Deputy Warden of the BCJ received information that caused her to arrange for Rice’s cell to be searched. Guards located drug-soaked paper in Rice’s cell. The lab determined that the paper contained a substance called 5 Flouro ADB, a type of synthetic marijuana. In Court, Rice admitted to possessing this drug to provide to other inmates.
Assistant United States Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended the ATF, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Butler County Jail, the Edgewood Police Department, and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole for the investigations that led to the successful prosecution of Rice.