In a recent federal court decision, Clenest Demon Wells Jr., a six-time felon, was handed a sentence of nearly 10 years behind bars after being convicted of multiple gun-related offenses, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota. The 28-year-old Minneapolis man faced charges for illegal possession of firearms and possession of a machine gun. Wells’ criminal record and history of violence were critical factors in the case.
Wells’ sentence of 116 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, was imposed after he was found guilty on all four counts. “Minneapolis belongs to the families who ride the bus to work, the parents who take their children to school, and the residents who build this community, not to felons who terrorize it,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson stated. Armed with a gun and a ‘switch’ – a device that converts a semi-automatic weapon to fully automatic – Wells previously confronted an innocent passenger on a Minneapolis bus. Wearing a black vest and a grey hat on a crowded bus, the law enforcement couldn’t ignore Wells’s threatening demeanor.
The evidence presented at trial showed Wells was caught illegally carrying firearms on three separate occasions spanning from 2020 to 2023. An incident on April 6, 2020, involved Wells threatening a Metro Transit bus passenger with a firearm. Law enforcement officers responded to the scene, conducted a pat-down search of Wells, and found him carrying a black HiPoint 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol. On another occasion, May 23, 2022, a speeding violation led police to discover Wells in possession of a black Springfield Model XD9 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol during a vehicle search. The third instance, on July 30, 2023, saw Wells fleeing from law enforcement in downtown Minneapolis, at the time in possession of a loaded machine gun, an extended firearm magazine, methamphetamine, and cocaine. The Glock pistol he carried had been modified with a ‘switch.’…