The man accused of plotting to kill Rayco Saunders might have gotten the sense the charges would be dropped after the Beltzhoover boxer strolled into the Allegheny County Courthouse wearing a “Stop Snitching” T-shirt.

            And that’s what happened Tuesday after Saunders refused to cooperate with authorities, forcing them to withdraw conspiracy and weapons charges against Keilan Walls, 29, and Shawn Davis, 25, both of Mt. Oliver, and Jason Korey, 23, of Baldwin Borough.

            “In light of the victim refusing to cooperate and other charges pending against them, we withdrew the charges,” said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s office.

            The phrase “Stop Snitching,” implying that witnesses should keep silent about crime or face retaliation, sparked a nationwide controversy last year after underground DVDs with that title surfaced in Baltimore, to the dismay of that city’s police department.

            The slogan caught on, however, appearing in various designs on T-shirts and hats around the country.

            The “Stop Snitching” shirts caused a furor in Boston last year when friends of a suspected gang member wore them to his trial.

            As Saunders, 31, stood Tuesday outside the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning, Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini told him either to leave or turn his shirt inside out.

            “It was clearly meant to intimidate someone,” Pellegrini said.

             Saunders, whose nickname is “WAR,” told a sheriff’s deputy who escorted him outside that the shirt was a form of expression.  He left without incident.

            Prosecutors alleged that Walls hired Korey to kill Saunders over a dispute with a girlfriend. Korey then got the gun from Davis and drove past Saunders’ house several times to carry out the hit, but Saunders was never home, prosecutors said.

            In the end, Saunders refused to divulge what he knew.

            “Without Rayco Saunders’ (cooperation), there’s no victim,” Pellegrini said.

            Korey, twice acquitted of state homicide charges, is serving a 33-year prison sentence for possession of a gun used in one of those murders after his conviction in July of federal weapons charges.

            Davis faces a January hearing on criminal mischief and escape charges and a federal indictment on gun charges, prosecutors said.

            Saunders, a professional cruiserweight, has 14 career victories- six by knockout- and six defeats. One bout ended in a draw.

Bobby Kerlik can be reached at bkerlik@tribweb.com