Andrew Walters

A Slippery Rock man charged with firing a shotgun during a domestic dispute and then found with a large amount of marijuana, guns and cash, won the release of his seized arsenal in Butler County Court on Monday.

Judge William Shaffer granted a motion to return some of the seized property to Andrew J. Walters, 25. Shaffer granted a motion to have four firearms — a 12-guage shotgun, an assault rifle and two handguns — as well as all related ammunition and accessories, released.

However. due to Walters subsequent sentence on charges of felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, the felony precludes him from owning firearms, so the order granted the weapons to be released by the state police and ownership transferred to another Slippery Rock man through Logan's Gun Gallery, a North Washington-based business.

Walters' attorney, Stephen Misko, said the firearms returned are not the weapons used in the initial shooting offense, and the shotgun involved in the incident remains in police custody.

Walters was also sentenced on consolidated counts of misdemeanor simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, to which he pleaded on Nov. 6, and was released on parole.

Shaffer sentenced Walters to time served to 23½ months in the Butler County Prison, with immediate parole. Walters was also ordered to undergo two years' probation following his parole, was ordered to pay court costs and to have no contact with the victims in the cases.

The initial charges — three felony counts of aggravated assault, three counts of misdemeanor simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, two counts each of terroristic threats and one count of disorderly conduct — stem from an incident at Walters' Church Road home on Feb. 22.

Police allege that Walters fired a shotgun blast at two women and a 4-year-old boy in a vehicle.

The incident began with an argument between Walters and a woman identified in court documents as Alexandra Cipriani.

Cipriani went to the home to pick up some of her belongings with her stepmother and 4-year-old brother, according to court records.

While the women and child were at the house, Walters returned and began arguing with Cipriani, before coming out of the basement with a gun. The women were attempting to leave in a vehicle when Walters allegedly yelled something and pointed the gun at them before firing a blast. They drove to a convenience store in Brady Township and called police, court documents state.

When police took Walters into custody, he directed officers to the shotgun inside the home. While retrieving it, police said there was an “extremely strong smell of marijuana” and officers saw “a large amount” of drug paraphernalia, according to court documents.

Following a search of the home, several weapons were found hidden between the mattresses of a futon couch, as well as ammunition and firearm magazines.

Inside a junked car door in the garage, police found a black bag containing two gallon-sized plastic bags of suspected marijuana and THC wax, as well as $9,000 in cash, police said.

Also found were ATVs and motorcycles and a large quantity of parts for those vehicles. Those parts were found to have altered VIN numbers, police said.

Walters was charged with two felony counts each of possession with intent to deliver, alteration or destruction of vehicle identification number, disposition of vehicle or vehicle part with altered vehicle identification number, two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count each of felony owning, operating or conducting a chop shop and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after the drugs and other items were found.

All other charges against him were dismissed as part of the plea.