Ex-Monessen man sentenced to 5 years in prison on drug charges

A 27-year-old former Monessen man will spend five years in a federal prison for attempting to distribute cocaine in Monessen last year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh.

Shaiquane Harrison was sentenced Friday by federal Judge William S. Stickman in Pittsburgh after he pleaded guilty on March 2 to attempting to possess with the intent to deliver 500 grams or more of cocaine he had received in the mail, according to court documents. The judge recommended that Harrison, who also will serve four years of probation, be placed in a federal prison close to Pittsburgh.

Harrison was nabbed after law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of a parcel that previously contained one kilogram of cocaine, to a Monessen residence on March 1, 2021. Harrison was observed driving a rental vehicle, taking possession of the parcel and then leaving in the vehicle.

Law enforcement tailed Harrison to another Monessen residence and saw Harrison carry the parcel into the residence.

When he was leaving the residence after a beeper went off inside the parcel, law enforcement entered the residence and saw that he had pieces of the parcel in his hands as he ran away from authorities, according to court documents.

Before jumping a fence, Harrison leaned through a window of a shed, hid a loaded handgun with an extended magazine, and dropped his cell phone, prosecutors said.

A search of the phone that was recovered revealed texts notifying Harrison the parcel was sent and how he tracked the parcel.

Harrison was indicted on June 8, 2021, by a federal grand jury and arrested on July 15, 2021, according to court documents. Prior to sentencing, he had been free on $20,000 unsecured bond.

Correction: This story has been updated to correctly identify the drug that had been previously contained in a parcel delivered to a Monessen residence in March. A previous version of this story stated the incorrect drug.