A man on parole from a prison sentence he received after pleading guilty to felony drug and gun charges in 2018 is representing himself in an effort to get post-conviction relief.

In December 2018, Hasan Shareef, 50, of Braddock, Allegheny County, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and prohibited possession of a firearm charges filed by state police following the execution of an unrelated search warrant in May 2016 in Butler.

He was sentenced to serve from one to nine years in state prison. Court records indicate he was released from prison in August 2024. He said he currently resides in a halfway house in Erie.

Shareef was arrested May 27, 2016, when state police stumbled upon him while executing a search warrant at a home in the 1000 block of East Jefferson Street, in an unrelated burglary investigation, according to the Butler Eagle’s coverage of his trial and sentencing.

Police said two handguns, 407 stamp bags of suspected heroin, five bags of powder cocaine, seven bags of crack cocaine, 14 opened suboxone strips and prescription pills, a digital scale, and $5,957 were found in the apartment; and $2,570 was found in Shareef’s possession.

Shareef had previous felony convictions in Pennsylvania and other states and was legally barred from possessing guns, according to Butler Eagle reporting.

At a hearing Wednesday, Oct. 28, Common Pleas Judge Joseph Kubit granted Shareef’s request for a waiver of his right to counsel to represent him in his post-conviction relief motion.

According to the handwritten motion he filed in May this year, Shareef is seeking release from custody, discharge, a new trial and other relief, which he didn’t specify.

The motion includes claims of ineffective counsel and violation of due process. He claims no preliminary hearing was held in his case, and no witnesses were called to testify in his defense.

In addition, he claims his guilty plea was unlawfully induced, he has new exculpatory evidence that wasn’t available at trial, his sentence was greater than the lawful maximum and the assistant district attorney who prosecuted him was unfit.

Shareef’s motion includes a request for an expedited hearing because the court will not have jurisdiction once his parole ends Dec. 13, and irreparable harm will occur if the request is not granted.

“If the court does not act now, you will be stuck with a fraudulent criminal conviction that you can never overturn, which also blocks your rights to sue (for) damages,” according to the motion.

Shareef also claims he missed the deadline to file an appeal in Supreme Court because he was in jail for a parole violation.