Witness gets one year of probation for conspiracy to launder money

Andre Avent found himself in an unusual situation as he sat Wednesday before a federal judge to be sentenced.

Yes, he had admitted to helping a convicted murderer, Price Montgomery, launder his heroin money.

But, as the judge, the defense attorney and the prosecutor all noted, Avent is unlike most federal drug case defendants in that he’s held a job for two decades, takes care of his family, graduated from community college, served in the Army and has no prior criminal record.

His lawyer, William Difenderfer, described his client as a “giving, wonderful human being” and U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak told him, “This isn’t like anything you’ve done before.”

The judge rewarded him with a year of probation for conspiracy to launder money.

The prosecutor, Heidi Grogan, did not object.

Avent, 41, of Homestead, had

testified in the trial of Montgomery, who was convicted of gunning down Tina Crawford in 2014. Ms. Crawford was Montgomery’s heroin courier on trips to New Jersey and was about to meet with a federal prosecutor about the drug ring when two gunmen sprayed her with bullets in the Hill District.

Montgomery was one of them.

Avent said on the stand during the trial that he agreed to put his name on the lease-to-own agreement for Montgomery’s Mount Washington home, which was owned by ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Deshea Townsend.

Avent said Montgomery asked him to buy the house in 2012 through Montgomery’s associate, car dealer Korry Pitts, who had business connections with several Steelers.

Asked why he did it, he said, “Because I had good credit.”

Avent said he had first met Montgomery years before when they both worked at McDonald’s. In 2011 he said he was short of money and so contacted Montgomery for help. In a sentencing memo, Mr. Difenderfer said Montgomery had given him $1,000 and had bought clothes for his family, so when Montgomery needed his help in putting his name on the lease he did it as a way to return the favor.

Mr. Difenderfer said that Avent’s crime was “not rooted in greed or violence or a quest for power or status. At worst, it was rooted in misplaced loyalty. At best, it was rooted in kindness.”

He said Avent had nothing to do with the drug trade.

It was clear from the trial, however, that everyone involved knew Montgomery was a a drug dealer. Avent had testified that he visited the house often and saw all the luxury items Montgomery owned.

“How much you gotta move to afford all this?” he said he asked one day, but Montgomery didn’t give him an answer.

Mr. Difenderfer said his client had been raised by his mother and bounced around violent public housing projects and bad schools throughout his childhood. Despite all of that, he made something of himself, working steadily and joining the Army. He had been set to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2003 but suffered from anxiety and depression and ended up discharged from the service.

But Mr. Difenderfer said he has maintained a regular job at a car rental company for 20 years, an almost-unheard-of employment record for someone indicted in a federal drug case.

“It’s a miracle that he turned out as he did,” Mr. Difenderfer said.

Montgomery is awaiting sentencing as is another man, Glenn Thomas, who prosecutors maintain was the second shooter in Tina Crawford’s death.