LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster man will serve up to 33 years in state prison after being convicted of multiple felonies related to a 2019 shooting on the 800 block of East Chestnut Street, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Monday.
Chapell Williams was found guilty of aggravated assault, firearms carried without a license, and person not to possess a firearm and was sentenced to a 9- to 18-year prison term by Judge Thomas Sponaugle on Monday, the DA's Office said.
Williams was previously sentenced in July 2020 to 7½ to 15 years for charges he received five days after the shooting when officers took him into custody, according to prosecutors. Officers observed Williams throw a firearm under a vehicle prior to being taken into custody five days after the shooting, according to prosecutors.
The firearm was used in the shooting, according to prosecutors.
Williams was found guilty of Person Not to Possess a Firearm in connection with that offense.
Sponaugle ordered his sentence to be served consecutively with the July sentence for a total aggregate sentence of 16 ½ to 33 years.
“People need to be protected from people like Chapell Williams," Sponaugle said in issuing his ruling.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors, Williams entered the back seat of the victim’s vehicle in February 2019 to purchase a quantity of marijuana from the victim.
During the transaction, Williams shot the victim in the chest and leg, causing serious bodily injury to the victim.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson, who argued for the sentence to be consecutive to Williams’ prior sentence noting that he had a significant prior record, and has “been a career criminal, failing to conform to the laws of society.”
Wilson continued saying that “he thought nothing of randomly firing two shots at the victim, at point blank range, inside of a car.”
