A Frankford man arrested on weapons charges during a violent week on Ditman Street in October has been sentenced to 11½ to 23 months behind bars.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Chung told Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Palumbo that 18-year-old Frankford resident Andre Richardson was caught with a loaded handgun on the 5100 block of Ditman Street on Oct. 25, 2013. During a July 31 hearing, Chung had asked the judge to sentence Richardson to two to four years imprisonment.
If Richardson were released, he would be a danger to the community, Chung told Palumbo. Public defender Sarah Coburn argued that her client had strong family ties to the neighborhood and had behaved himself during the nine months he had been imprisoned since his arrest. Besides that, she told Palumbo, Richardson in May had pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered gun.
Chung said Richardson had been involved in crimes as a juvenile and caught a break in not getting sentenced to any time then.
The day Richardson was arrested, there had been two shootings on the same block of Ditman Street. Four days earlier, a 19-year-old man had been shot to death on the 5100 block of Ditman.
Police officer James Putro testified at Richardson’s sentencing that, when he caught Richardson, he had to be ordered to raise his hands six times, and, when he finally obeyed, his gun fell to the ground.
“The indication was,” Chung said, “he was carrying a firearm and was ready to use it.”
“The defendant is lucky he didn’t get shot,” Palumbo said. ••
