Police accuse convicted felon of stealing gun from East Deer home where his mother lives

Allegheny Valley Regional Police accused a convicted felon who is not allowed to possess a firearm of stealing a gun from a home in East Deer Township.

Jonathon Rian Cordial, 28, of the 100 block of Frederick Street in Millvale, was charged with felony counts of theft, possession of a controlled substance and carrying a firearm without a license.

Police also charged Cordial in a separate complaint with a felony count of fleeing to avoid arrest and three misdemeanor charges after they tried to take him into custody June 18 in Springdale.

The criminal complaint for the Springdale case was not available from District Judge David Sasovicka, whose office has not yet set a preliminary hearing date to hear the charges.

Cordial was released from jail on a nonmonetary bond and faces a preliminary hearing on the gun theft charges before District Judge Carolyn Bengel on July 6, according to court records.

Police were dispatched shortly after 11 p.m. June 15 to a home in the 700 block of Freeport Road for a report of a stolen firearm, according to a criminal complaint.

The gun’s owner, who shares a home with Cordial’s mother, told police the Smith & Wesson 9 mm he keeps on the bedroom nightstand was missing, according to the complaint. He said the missing firearm has rust on the barrel and is equipped with a built-in laser pointer, the complaint said.

The couple told police Cordial saw the gun in their home and inquired about it, police said. His mother told police she told her son “not to touch it or think about it” because he is a convicted felon and not allowed to “be around it,” the complaint said.

Court records show Cordial pleaded guilty in 2014 to felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass filed by Etna police and was sentenced to five years of probation.

Cordial also received five years of probation after pleading guilty in 2017 to two felony counts of forgery filed by Shaler police, according to court records.

Cordial’s mother told police her son is addicted to heroin and was “feeling sick” on the day they believe he stole the firearm, the complaint said.

The couple said Cordial has stolen from them in the past, but they never filed a report with police, according to the complaint.