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Canonsburg man sentenced to additional time in state prison

2 min read
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A Canonsburg man, already serving time in state prison, was sentenced to an additional 15 to 30 years in multiple cases spanning several years and involving allegations he sold heroin and sent his wife a threatening letter while serving another term in state prison.

Washington County Common Pleas Judge Valarie Costanzo imposed the sentence Thursday against William Shaw, 48, who pleaded guilty to charges in four separate cases filed in 2017 and 2018.

Court records show Shaw is already in SCI-Houtzdale in Huntingdon County after being sentenced in a separate case in Franklin County.

In each of two of the cases from last year, Shaw pleaded guilty to drug delivery. The cases stemmed from separate instances in late 2015 and early 2016 when state police said Shaw sold heroin to an informant.

The third set of charges from 2018 was filed by state police who said troopers were dispatched in March 2016 to America’s Best Motel on West Chestnut Street in Canton Township for a report of an assault, then learned of allegations Shaw, two other people and a child had traveled there from New Jersey in a vehicle that also carried heroin and cocaine. Troopers searched two rooms Shaw had reportedly rented and found the drugs, plus marijuana, and other apparent evidence.

In that case, Shaw pleaded guilty to three counts of possession with intent to deliver illegal drugs. Charges related to a revolver that was found during that search and Shaw was prohibited from possessing were dropped earlier this year. During sentencing, Costanzo, who determined Shaw’s DNA was found on the gun, added an enhancement to the punishment for those charges because he apparently possessed the weapon during other crimes.

He was later sentenced in Bedford County on charges stemming from a chase he led police on before he crashed into a state police vehicle and was detained.

Shaw also pleaded guilty to a charge of making a terroristic threat. His wife told city police he sent her a message from another state prison, SCI-Smithfield, two years ago. He’d reportedly threatened her life in the message.

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