Woman pleads guilty to federal charges

PITTSBURGH -- Anita Ward, 28, of North Cascade Street, New Castle, has pleaded guilty to federal drug and firearms charges.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said Ward entered her pleas in federal court here Monday before senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond.
Ward is charged with falsification of firearms purchase forms and conspiracy to distribute a substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
Tina Oberdorf Miller, assistant U.S. attorney, said Ward was an illegal "straw purchaser" of 10 firearms from Pete's Sport Shop in New Castle on Oct. 9, 1999, Oct. 22, 1999, and Dec. 11, 1999.
A straw purchase of a firearm occurs when a buyer misrepresents the identity of the actual purchaser of a firearm on a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms form that the buyer must complete, Miller said.
On the drug trafficking charge, Ward is accused of counting and transporting money for a cocaine distribution network operating in the New Castle area in 1998-99.
Sentencing is set for June 5, and Ward could face up to life imprisonment and a fine of more than $4 million, Miller said.