Giante Hilliard, 30, a former West Mifflin resident, entered a guilty plea to charges associated with violations of federal firearms and drug trafficking laws on August 28. According to a recent report by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Hilliard's plea acknowledged his involvement in three different criminal occurrences across late March and May of the previous year.
Federal court records detailed how the first of these incidents, dated March 28, 2023, involved an altercation outside a McKees Rocks bar, whereby Hilliard engaged in a shootout. Captured on video, Hilliard fired shots from a car's passenger seat after another individual opened fire as they began to drive away. The U.S. Attorney's announcement specified that the second run-in on May 8, witnessed by police officers, escalated as Hilliard, once again a passenger and the driver rammed into three law enforcement vehicles and subsequently fled.
Investigators later found the getaway car abandoned and discovered a bag beneath a dumpster, which Hilliard had been seen concealing. Contained within was a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun that matched casings from the prior shooting and roughly 300 doses of heroin and fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported. Adding to his legal woes, in the final incident on May 31, Hilliard posted a video online showcasing yet another firearm, culminating in a police standoff at a residence where additional drugs and an unserialized "ghost gun" were seized.
Hilliard, who had a rap sheet punctuated by aggravated assault, unlicensed firearm possession, and issuing terroristic threats, was prohibited by federal law from having firearms or ammunition. Despite past convictions, he admitted to charges of firearm and ammunition possession during the March 28 incident, firearm possession in furtherance of drug trafficking on May 8, and ammunition possession on May 31. The court will decide his sentence based on the gravity of these offenses and his previous convictions, where he faces a minimum of five years to life in prison, in addition to the possibility of a $1,750,000 fine.
The ATF led the investigation with assistance from several law enforcement agencies, including the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Allegheny County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Douglas C. Maloney are prosecuting the case.
