Andrew Rocco

Introduction

Andrew Rocco, 22, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court to a term of imprisonment of four years on his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a machinegun. United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence, announced August 21, 2026 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The conviction traces to a February 2, 2024 search of Rocco’s residence that turned up three pistols — one of them converted to fully automatic fire — each fitted with loaded, extended magazines.

Background Information

The February 2, 2024 search of Rocco’s residence recovered three firearms, along with magazines and ammunition. One of the firearms was equipped with a mechanism — frequently referred to as a “switch” or auto-sear — that renders it capable of fully automatic firing, which makes that weapon a machinegun under federal law. All three pistols were outfitted with loaded, extended magazines. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Barbara K. Doolittle and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and it is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department’s violent-crime-reduction program. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN around core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. Rocco was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon and possessing a machinegun, and sentenced to four years in federal prison.

The arsenal itself was the case: three pistols with loaded extended magazines, one carrying an auto-sear switch, all recovered from a home where federal law barred Rocco from possessing any firearm at all. The possession counts rested on Rocco’s status as a felon — a status with its own documented history. Less than two years before the February 2024 search, Rocco was arrested in 2022 with a stolen firearm on his person after attempting to flee from police, and the new conduct violated the probation imposed for that stolen-firearm possession. A year before the 2022 arrest, he was adjudicated delinquent in another illegal firearm possession case as a juvenile. The instant matter is, therefore, the third time Rocco has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent for a gun-related crime.

Before imposing sentence, Judge Horan indicated that the type of weapons involved in the case — a machinegun among them — as well as the defendant’s repetitive unlawful firearm possession, present a concern for the safety of the public. The release does not state how the search came about, whether the pistols were traced to purchases or thefts, or where on the premises the firearms were found.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The documented reaction is institutional: Judge Horan’s public-safety remarks, the announcement from United States Attorney Troy Rivetti’s office, and the ATF and Pittsburgh Bureau of Police investigative credit. The release contains no statement from Rocco or his attorney. The consequences are the four-year federal prison term and the revocation of the probation from his 2022 stolen-firearm case, plus the collateral consequences of a third firearms conviction or adjudication on a 22-year-old’s record.

Current Status

Rocco is serving his four-year sentence following the sentencing before Judge Horan announced in August 2026. The release does not state whether he has appealed, where he is being held, or whether the supervised-release term that typically follows such a conviction was imposed. The February 2, 2024 search and the three-weapon recovery remain the documented core of the case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 22, Rocco has collected three gun-related convictions or juvenile adjudications before his mid-twenties — the 2021 delinquency adjudication, the 2022 stolen-firearm arrest and conviction, and now a federal machinegun case. The four-year sentence interrupts what the record shows as a continuous escalations path through the system, and the machinegun count marks the first time his possession involved a weapon capable of fully automatic fire. Beyond his age, his Pittsburgh residence, and the weapon inventory, the release records nothing about his occupation or family.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania, “Pittsburgh Resident Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Firearms Violations”, August 21, 2026 — source