Alleged gang leader receives state prison term

Charges included robbery, drug-dealing and probation violations

By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

William C. “Pumpkin” Shockley Jr., 25, of Coatesville, was sentenced to 7 to 15 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

“Slim to none.” That’s how the prosecutor described the rehabilitation potential of an alleged Coatesville gang leader who was sentenced Wednesday morning to 7 to 15 1/2 years in prison on charges that included robbery, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, and probation violations.

Chester County Court Judge Jacqueline C. Cody imposed the penalty  on William C. “Pumpkin” Shockley Jr., 25, of Coatesville.  She ordered the prison term to be followed by a year of probation.

In requesting imprisonment of 12 to 21 years, Assistant District Attorney Alexander E. Gosfield had argued that Shockley’s supervision history, a prior record that started at age 17, and an absence of remorse made a maximum sentence necessary.  In a sentencing memorandum, Gosfield called Shockley, linked by police to a Coatesville gang called the Goonies, an unrepentant drug dealer who doesn’t hesitate to use violence.

In one brutal encounter, Shockley robbed a friend he had invited to his home for a dice game because “it was easy,” Gosfield said, adding that in another instance, Shockley had a t-shirt made after an earlier conviction for illegal firearms possession. Gosfield displayed the shirt, which showed a photograph of the eyewitness against him on the front with the caption “who told on who.”  The back of the shirt featured a page of the criminal complaint, including the name of the witness, Gosfield said.

“The defendant is deeply involved in the ‘stop snitching’ culture of violence of drugs that keep Coatesville’s good citizens living in fear,” Gosfield wrote in the memorandum. “In short, the defendant is somebody’s death waiting to happen, and that somebody could be a police officer, a rival drug dealer, or an innocent bystander.”

Gosfield wanted law-enforcement witnesses, including an FBI agent, to testify about “prior uncharged crime” in Shockley’s past to provide context for his conduct in the charges at issue. Shockley’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stephen Delano, objected, and the judge agreed, saying she would focus on the crimes to which Shockley pleaded guilty.

According to court records, the robbery charge dated back to April 2012. Police said Shockley robbed a friend of $4,000 and threatened him with further injury if he reported it, which he did not do right away. In August, 2012, Shockley was taken into custody on charges that included robbery, aggravated assault, witness intimidation, and related offenses after authorities received information that he was hiding in a Lancaster County hotel, records said.

The drug charges surfaced after Coatesville Police were dispatched to Shockley’s home in the 100 block of Strode Avenue on July 24 at approximately 3:32 p.m. for a robbery report and found a man bleeding in front of the residence.  He told police a masked man struck him in the forehead with a firearm and entered Shockley’s home.  During the execution of a search warrant, police found approximately 275.02 grams of marijuana packaged for sale in 138 small zip lock bags in Shockley’s bedroom, records said.

After the proceeding, Gosfield applauded the outcome. “We are very pleased that the judge recognized the serious risk Mr. Shockley poses to the community in issuing a sentence above the guidelines,” he said.  “A sentence like this makes clear that peddling drugs and violence in the City of Coatesville is a one-way ticket to state prison for a very long time.  It’s also a tribute to Detective Kevin Campbell and the Coatesville police for their hard work in keeping the citizens of Coatesville safe from dangerous criminals like Mr. Shockley.”

Delano declined comment.