Shaquill Bell

An East McKeesport man accused of selling heroin in Butler County will serve his sentence in state prison after a sentence modification request was denied in Butler County Court on Tuesday.

Shaquill O. Bell, 24, was previously sentenced to 14 to 60 months in a state prison by Judge William Shaffer on Sept. 21. Shaffer on Tuesday denied a motion to modify the sentence, which requested the range be changed to allow for Bell to serve his time in county jail.

Bell pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance on Aug. 16, after being charged with two felony drug delivery counts and one count each of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and resisting arrest after an incident in the 400 block of East Locust Street on March 20.

Bell's attorney, Chief Public Defender Kevin Flaherty, argued that his client has no prior record and that the state sentence amounted to “a severely harsh penalty for a first-time offender.”

“Mr. Bell has no experience of being in jail before so sending him to the state we feel is a bit harsh,” he said.

He said Bell plans to attend trade school when he is released and has had no infractions while at the county facility.

Bell apologized to the court, saying “I admit to everything I did wrong here, that is why I took the plea.”

“It was a bad choice and I made it,” he said. “I understand what I did and I apologize for bringing this poison into the community.”

Bell, who has served six months in Butler County Prison while being held on $100,000 bail, said he has learned what his actions did to the community.

First Assistant District Attorney Patricia McLean argued that the sentence, while at the high end of the standard range, is still within legal guidelines for the charge to which Bell pleaded.

“This case involved 206 bags of heroin, which the defendant has even admitted is polluting this community,” she said.

Bell also fled from police officers during the incident, she said.

“The motion argues that due to his young age ... the defendant is 24-years-old, more than old enough to make better choices,” she said.

Bell now has 30 days to file an appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

The charges come after the incident on March 20, when county probation officers had gone to an apartment for a compliance check and saw an unknown man try to climb out two different windows, according to court documents.

The suspect, later identified as Bell, eventually managed to run out the front door. The officers alerted police and gave chase.

Bell was seen throwing something under a porch on St. Mary's Street, which was later found to be a shopping bag with 206 bags of heroin.

Butler police officers chased him down in a yard on Rattigan Street. A search of Bell turned up a small amount of suspected marijuana, documents said, and $600 in cash.

Back at the house, police said, officers seized more than 100 additional bags of heroin and several grams of crack cocaine.