No jail time for convicted Duluth, Minnesota, felon who turned in guns

Steven Cooper, 32, was sentenced Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court to five years of supervised probation. Judge Dale Harris decided not to follow the minimum sentencing guidelines, which call for prison time.

In July 2022, St. Louis County prosecutors charged Cooper with firearms possession after he told his parole officer that he had found a gun and ammunition among items in a car left behind by his brother, who had recently died. . Cooper wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt and placed it in a safe location in his apartment building before calling his parole officer, who notified police.

After Cooper was charged, both the Duluth NAACP and the Minnesota Gun Owners Group called on the county to drop the charges. Duluth NAACP President Classie Dudley said at the time that the charge sends a message that unregistered guns and guns owned by people who shouldn’t have them shouldn’t be surrendered.

At a 2023 NAACP press conference, Cooper said he had been “honest from the beginning.” By doing the right thing, I receive punishment.”

Cooper pleaded guilty last fall in hopes of receiving probation. He later withdrew it because his lawyers said they learned his previous convictions precluded such a sentence. Cooper shot and killed two gas station clerks in 2006 when he was 15 and was convicted of attempted murder. He was released on parole after serving 13.5 years.

On Monday, Harris cited case law that he said allows for downward departures from sentencing guidelines, and Cooper reiterated his guilty plea.

“I know it’s been a long and winding road, but I think this is a fair and just result,” Harris told Cooper.