Former Allderdice coach, police academy cadet accused of selling cocaine from house

A former Pittsburgh Allderdice High School football coach who was going through a police academy is accused of selling cocaine out of his Squirrel Hill home, according to charges filed Wednesday by state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Branndon Pezzelle, 36, allegedly had 1,252 grams – nearly 3 pounds – of cocaine in his home when authorities served a search warrant on the Waldron Street home, Shapiro said in a statement.

Pezzelle, who last coached at Allderdice in the 2019-2020 school year, was also recently a cadet in the Allegheny County Police Academy. The academy is a separate entity than the Allegheny County Police Department, and the two have no affiliation. Cadets who are training with the academy have not yet been hired by any specific department.

“He was not training to become a member of the ACPD,” county police Superintendent Coleman McDonough said. “I am confident he would never have made it through our department’s rigorous background investigation process.”

Shapiro said Pezzelle betrayed the same people he wanted to protect.

“The defendant gained the trust of players and families in Pittsburgh and was seeking to become a police officer – all while behind the scenes selling poisons in our communities,” Shapiro said.

Along with the cocaine, authorities searching Pezzelle’s home found $76,000 in cash, drug packaging supplies, two rifles and two handguns, according to the criminal complaint.

Pezzelle is charged with possession with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia and possession of instruments of crime.

While Pezzelle was not associated with the Allegheny County Police, the department did, however, assist in the Attorney General’s investigation.

“We’re thankful for not only the arrest of Pezzelle and the end of his drug trafficking,” McDonough said, “but also for their work to identify and remove an individual who, had he somehow been able to gain employment as a police officer, would have, no doubt, tarnished the badge.”