MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – A six-time felon has been sentenced to 116 months imprisonment for threatening a Metro bus passenger with a gun and caught with a switch.
Clenest Demon Wells Jr, 28, was convicted of illegally possessing firearms as a felon and possessing a machinegun.
According to court documents, law enforcement caught Wells illegally carrying firearms on three separate occasions between 2020 and 2023. On April 6, 2020, police responded to reports of a passenger wearing a black vest and grey winter hat on a Metro Transit bus in Minneapolis threatening another passenger with a firearm. Wells was found in possession of a black HiPoint 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol.
On May 23, 2022, Minneapolis Police Department officers on patrol observed a Pontiac G6 speeding through a residential area and conducted a traffic stop. Wells was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle. Officers searched the car and found Wells in possession of a black Springfield Model XD9 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol.
On July 30, 2023, Wells fled from law enforcement in a busy entertainment district of downtown Minneapolis while he possessed a loaded machinegun, an extended firearm magazine, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Wells’ Glock pistol was equipped with a “switch” conversion device that enabled the firearm to fire in fully automatic mode.
Wells was sentenced to 116 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release for illegally possessing firearms as a felon and possessing a machinegun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
“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,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Minneapolis Police Department, the Metro Transit Police Department, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys David B. Green and Syngen Kanassatega prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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