A Maryland man involved in an altercation that resulted in a shooting inside a Morgantown apartment in February 2020 was sentenced in Monongalia County Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon.
Edward Kolleh, 30, was given two years of probation after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy.
Kolleh’s guilty plea came after a shooting incident involving himself and three other men in his College Avenue apartment. Monongalia County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Fitz said that the two victims in this case went to the house of Ethan Horseman, Kolleh’s roommate, to do a drug transaction to buy marijuana.
That was essentially when guns were pulled on them by Horseman and then Kolleh grabbed a shotgun that was available to him, Fitz explained. There was a struggle between Horseman and one of the other men for the gun and the victim ended up getting shot in the hip.
Defense Attorney Edmund Rollo told Judge Susan Tucker that Kolleh has taken appropriate steps to improve his lifestyle including entering into and completing a 60 day in-patient addiction rehabilitation program from May to July 2020.
Rollo said Kolleh also completed a six month outpatient program and maintained full time employment. The attorney went on to say that the work he has done has shown that Kolleh will do whatever the court asks him to do if given probation.
“I don’t think Edward could do anything more to show to the court that he is taking this seriously, that he is walking the walk,” said Rollo. “If the court were to place him on probation he would be a very suitable candidate.”
Fitz agreed, saying the state believes Kolleh is a good candidate for probation. He said the state felt that Kolleh was at low-risk of re-engaging in criminal activity given he had no previous criminal record.
Judge Tucker said that based on what Kolleh has done to help himself, he shows the desire to lead a good life.
Tucker said that Kolleh will also need to pay all court costs and attorney’s fees in full as well as perform 150 hours of community service.
Kolleh said to the court that he feels he has grown through this experience and promised to put in the work to stay out of trouble. “I’m a better man now and I feel like I have shown it,” he said. “I want to keep this train going so I don’t have to come back here again.”
