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Felon charged with turning in gun sentenced to 5 years probation • Minnesota Reformer [1]
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Date: 2024-10-28
A man charged with felony firearm possession for turning in a gun to his parole officer will spend five years on probation — with a suspended five-year prison sentence — as part of a plea deal approved by a St. Louis County judge on Monday.
The sentencing agreement ends a legal saga stretching back more than two years to July 14, 2022, when Steven Cooper found a gun and ammunition in the Chevy Blazer left to him by his deceased brother.
Cooper, who was living in Duluth at the time, knew he wasn’t allowed to possess a firearm because of a previous violent felony, so he wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt and called his parole officer to turn it over.
His parole officer called the Duluth police, who arrested him.
“I just wanted to do the right thing,” Cooper told a police officer from the back of a squad car, according to body camera footage.
The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office then charged him with a felony, which carries a minimum five-year prison sentence, as the Reformer first reported.
Cooper’s attorney, Joe Vaccaro, said charging him for turning in the gun to law enforcement sends the wrong message to other felons who find firearms.
Cooper said in an interview at the time that he “could have easily thrown that thing in a river. I could have easily gave it to somebody … dumped it in the garbage.”
Cooper pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm more than a year ago, but later withdrew the guilty plea after prosecutor Tony Rubin argued the court did not have the discretion to accept a sentence less than five years in prison.
Minnesota law has a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years for people illegally possessing firearms who already have a violent felony, a requirement that some state Democrats are looking to change. Cooper was convicted of attempted murder and served 13 years in prison for shooting two gas station clerks in 2006, when he was 15 years old.
Rubin wanted Cooper to admit that he had been untruthful to police as part of his initial guilty plea, but Cooper declined, saying he had been truthful. Cooper’s attorney then sought to have the case thrown out, arguing it was not in the interest of public safety, but a judge declined to dismiss the case.
A jury trial was set to begin on Monday, but the prosecutor and Cooper’s attorney reached the agreement, with Cooper admitting to illegally possessing a firearm but avoiding prison based on a legal technicality.
Because Cooper didn’t admit to using a firearm as part of his underlying felony conviction, the prosecutor would have to prove that detail beyond a reasonable doubt before a jury. That omission allowed Judge Dale Harris to accept a reduced sentence.
Since he was charged last year, Cooper was sent back to prison for 90 days for relapsing. Cooper completed a drug and alcohol treatment program in prison, which the prosecutor cited as a reason for agreeing to a lesser sentence.
As part of the plea agreement, Cooper must remain law-abiding, or he faces a five-year prison sentence.
“I know this has been kind of a long and winding road, but I do think this is a fair and just result. And I wish you the very best,” Harris, the judge, told Cooper on Monday.
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https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/10/28/felon-charged-with-turning-in-gun-sentenced-to-5-years-probation/
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