Monessen man sentenced to prison for gun, drug offenses

A Monessen man was ordered to serve up to eight years in prison this week after he pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession and drug charges.

Police said Terrance Stepoli, 30, fled from officers who responded to a call of a fight at the former Sweeney’s Steakhouse in Rostraver on May 28, 2021. Police shocked Stepoli with a taser stun gun as he climbed a chain link fence in an attempt to flee.

Authorities said more than $7,200 in cash, a gun, heroin, cocaine, marijuana and pills were found in Stepoli’s vehicle.

Stepoli was not allowed to possess a firearm because of a previous felony conviction, according to police.

A former high school sports standout, Stepoli was one of five people arrested in December 2012 on attempted homicide charges.

They were accused of chasing and shooting at a man they believed implicated them in the homicide of another man.

Stepoli later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy and was sentenced to serve up to four years in prison.

In court on Tuesday, Stepoli also pleaded guilty to charges in a related case. Police said a subsequent search of his vehicle several months later, in October 2021, found heroin and other drugs.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Stepoli to serve concurrent sentences of four to eight years in both cases.

The judge in July rejected proposed guilty pleas for Stepoli in which he was to have received a prison term of 2.5 to five years. Feliciani last month called that sentence insufficient.