Hasan Shareef of Butler

A Butler jury on Monday found Hasan Shareef, 42, of Butler guilty of possessing firearms, which he is prohibited from owning due to previous felony convictions.

Shareef routinely punctuated the one-day trial with exclamations of “objection” and often had his hand up, calling to Judge Timothy F. McCune. At one point he said, “Your honor, I can't go along with this trial.”

Shareef ultimately relented on that point. But after becoming frustrated with his lawyer, Armand Cingolani, he “fired” him after lunch and questioned a witness on the stand, leading to a steady chorus of objections from assistant district attorney Terri Schultz.

Shareef's trial came after his arrest on May 27, 2016, when state police troopers from Butler stumbled upon him while executing a search warrant at a home on the 1000 block of East Jefferson Street, in an unrelated burglary investigation. At the apartment police found two handguns and charged Shareef with possessing them illegally.

Shareef has pleaded guilty to felony drug charges in multiple states according to online court documents, including Pennsylvania. In June he pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. That charge stemmed from a 2016 case, according to court documents.

This is an excerpt — read a full report on the hearing in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.