Federal Jury Convicts Armed Career Criminal for Illegal Possession of a Firearm
MINNEAPOLIS – A federal jury today convicted a St. Paul man on charges of illegally possessing a firearm, announced Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk.
Following a five-day trial, Darnell Andre Dunn, 30, was convicted on one count of felon in possession of firearm – armed career criminal.
According to the evidence presented at trial, on August 30, 2019, Dunn was involved in a drive-by shooting in St. Paul. Minutes after the shooting, St. Paul police pulled over the car in which Dunn and two others were riding. The police let Dunn and the others go after receiving incorrect information about the license plate of the drive-by shooter’s car from the 911 dispatcher. When they realized the error, Dunn and the others were gone. The following day, St. Paul police saw Dunn parked at a gas station in St. Paul. After asking Dunn about the false name he had given the night before, the officer ordered Dunn out of the car. When Dunn got up, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson he had been sitting on fell to the floor. A ballistics analysis later showed that it was one of the guns that had been used in the drive-by shooting the night before. Because of his prior felony convictions, Dunn is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.
Dunn faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years, up to life imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release. At sentencing, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the St. Paul Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Jacobs and Melinda A. Williams.
###
