Federal prosecutors: East Hills felon 'repeatedly endangered the community' by firing machine gun in several incidents

A former East Hills man and convicted felon was sentenced to a decade in federal prison on Friday, after he was found in possession of a machine gun that prosecutors said was fired during multiple shooting incidents in Pittsburgh and Penn Hills.

Oronde Shelton, 51, was sentenced following conviction on possession of both a firearm and machine gun by a convicted felon.

In March 2021, Shelton was arrested in Pittsburgh’s Perry North neighborhood at a house where police discovered several weapons. They included a semi-automatic Glock pistol equipped with an extended magazine and an after-market switch that made the gun capable of firing like a machine gun.

Due to a prior conviction, Shelton is prohibited from having firearms.

Prior to his arrest, Shelton told federal officials he had used the pistol on multiple occasions, including during a gunfire exchange on Frankstown Road in which a bystander was shot in the right ankle.

In another shootout on Pittsburgh’s North Side with occupants of a passing car, Shelton shot a parked vehicle and hit a nearby building.

Shelton was on parole following a 2008 federal conviction for heroin distribution charges. Judge Christy Wiegand revoked the release and sentenced Shelton to consecutively serve an additional 57 months behind bars, rejecting his claim that he needed the gun for protection.

“Oronde Shelton has repeatedly endangered the community, and in particular innocent bystanders, with his use of illegal firearms, in this case, a machine gun,” said U.S. Western District Attorney Eric Olshan. “This combined sentence of nearly 15 years is a recognition of how dangerous and destructive machine guns are, particularly when possessed and used by chronic violent offenders.”

Shelton has a lengthy criminal history involving guns, drugs and witness intimidation dating back to the 1990s.