PITTSBURGH, PA — Pittsburgh resident Damien Bradford, 42, has been sentenced to a decade-long term of imprisonment in federal court. The sentencing was handed down by United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, following Bradford’s violation of federal supervised release tied to violent conduct that occurred in July 2022.
United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced the sentence, which comes after Bradford’s previous conviction in the Northern District of Ohio for Interstate Stalking and Use and Carry of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony. These convictions were related to Bradford’s involvement in the killing of Dr. Gulam Moonda in May 2005.
Initially, Bradford was sentenced to a 210-month term of imprisonment, followed by 5-years of federal supervised release. Upon his release, his supervision was transferred from the Northern District of Ohio to the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In July 2022, Pennsylvania State Police charged Bradford with numerous offenses, including Attempted Homicide, Aggravated Assault, Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer, Disarming a Law Enforcement Officer, and Possession of Firearms Prohibited. By November 2023, Bradford was convicted in the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 36 1/2 to 73 years.
Following this sentencing, a federal supervised release violation hearing was held. During the hearing, videos were presented showing Bradford’s violent actions in July 2022, including pointing a firearm at an individual and shooting a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper in the leg.
Bradford admitted to violating some conditions of his federal supervised release and requested concurrent sentencing with his Beaver County sentence. However, the government urged the court to revoke Bradford’s supervised release, sentence him to the maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and to impose that sentence consecutively to the Beaver County sentence.
Judge Hardy agreed with the government’s request, imposing a 10-year sentence to be served consecutively to the Beaver County sentence. In doing so, Judge Hardy commended bystanders who assisted the Pennsylvania State Police during the July 2022 incident.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. The Pennsylvania State Police were also commended by United States Attorney Olshan for their investigation leading to Bradford’s successful prosecution.
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