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Double-murder parolee held after Holland-area arrest for drugs, gun

by | Oct 9, 2015 | Legal Insights

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A man convicted of two Illinois murders will remain locked up pending trial on gun and drug charges, a judge ruled Friday, Oct. 9.

Harold Ernest Shields Jr., 37, was indicted this week after he allegedly sold crack cocaine and possessed a handgun and ammunition as a felon in the Holland area.

Shields was sentenced in 1997 in Cook County, Ill., to 33 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two murder charges and four attempted murder charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Berens asked that Shields be locked up pending trial because he posed a danger to the community and was a risk to flee. His attorney said he had a job that was supposed to start next week and that he would appear at future court hearings if released on bond.

Shields has been living in an apartment complex on South Traditions Way in Holland Township after being paroled in January 2014.

Theodore Westra, a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids that Shields admitted that shortly after his release from prison he went with a girlfriend to buy a handgun at a pawn shop in Allendale. The gun was registered to his girlfriend.

Police later found a text on his cell phone that said, “New baby,” referring to the handgun. A text sent 15 minutes later listed various assault rifles, with the word, “Next.”

Holland police found the loaded gun during a Sept. 6 traffic stop on North River Avenue and First Street. Shields, with two passengers in his Jeep, was going 48 mph in a 30-mph zone. He admitted he had handled the gun, an SCCY Industries 9mm semi-automatic pistol, bought under his girlfriend’s name, records showed.

He was arrested for possession of a firearm by a felon and driving while intoxicated but later posted bond and was released.

Meanwhile, the ATF and West Michigan Enforcement Team, or WEMET, had been investigating Shields since June for violating federal firearms and drug laws. Police made three controlled crack cocaine buys from Shields before his arrest by Holland police and another while he was out on bond, Westra testified.

On Sept. 18, police waited for Shields to leave his apartment and stopped his car a short distance away. Police found drugs in the car. Other officers raided his home with a search warrant. Police recovered evidence linking him to a lock box containing ammunition, the prosecution said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Phillip Green said that selling drugs is “inherently dangerous,” particularly with a firearm involved. He noted that Shields allegedly sold drugs while on bond on the state charges.

“I can think of no conditions … that would assure the safety of the community” if Shields was released on bond, Green said.

He said Shields showed “total disregard” for bond conditions on the state charges.

A woman wept as he was led away from the courtroom in handcuffs.

John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar