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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; State police arrested a woman they allege buried a firearm used in a fatal shooting near a playground in Freeland nearly a year ago.</p><p>A .25 caliber pistol and ammunition were unearthed from behind the residence of Felicia Marie Catrone, 19, of 585 Cleveland St., on Tuesday, state police said.</p><p>Investigators learned Catrone allegedly buried the pistol after receiving a letter from an inmate.</p><p>Catrone was the driver of a vehicle that fled the scene after Brandon Joseph Gambardella, 19, of Hazleton, fatally shot Anthony Bonney, 17, during a botched drug deal in Freeland on June 18, 2018, court records say.</p><p>Gambardella intended to buy cocaine from Bonney but passed off a mixture of drywall shavings and baking soda. Gambardella allegedly shot Bonney as he ran from a playground.</p><p>After the fatal shooting, investigators allege Catrone buried the pistol and ammunition several inches deep under a tree behind her residence.</p><p>Investigators on April 22 received a handwritten letter from a state inmate whose name is not listed in arrest records filed against Catrone.</p><p>Shortly after Bonney was killed, the unnamed inmate claimed Gambardella was jailed with Eric Scott Montanari Jr., 19, at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. Montanari subsequently pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for fatally stabbing his grandmother inside her Black Creek Township home on March 16, 2018. Montanari was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in state prison.</p><p>Catrone was in a relationship with Montanari, court records say.</p><p>The unnamed inmate claimed Gambardella gave the pistol to Catrone after Bonney was fatally shot, and the firearm was buried in her rear yard.</p><p>Investigators unearthed the firearm after executing a search warrant at Catrone&#8217;s residence.</p><p>Catrone was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Zola in Hazleton on charges of perjury, hindering apprehension, firearms not to be carried without a license and tampering with evidence. She was jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $500,000 bail.</p><p>Gambardella is scheduled for a homicide trial Sept. 30 before county Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Brandon-Gambardella-06182018.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gambardella</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Brandon-Gambardella-06182018.jpg</photo0><caption0>Gambardella</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Felicia-Catrone-05142019.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gambardella </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Felicia-Catrone-05142019.jpg</photo1><caption1>Gambardella </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Police: Woman buried firearm used in deadly shooting