Department of Justice

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis man pleaded guilty today to illegally possessing firearms as a felon, announced Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk.

According to court documents, in March 2021, Minneapolis Police officers received information that Brandon Marcel Thomas, 33, was engaged in drug and firearms trafficking. Officers executed a search warrant at a storage locker in Minneapolis that had been leased by Thomas since approximately October 2020. Officers recovered from the storage locker seven firearms, including a Radical Firearms, .300 caliber, semi-automatic rifle; a Smith and Wesson, .357 caliber, pistol; a Taurus, 9mm caliber, pistol; a Glock, .40 caliber, pistol; a Smith and Wesson, .380 caliber, pistol; a Glock .45 caliber, pistol; and a Glock, .22 caliber, pistol.

Because Thomas has prior felony convictions, including a 2009 federal carjacking conviction in the District of Minnesota, he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

Thomas entered his guilty plea today before Senior U.S. District Judge David S. Doty in U.S. District Court. A sentencing date has not been set.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is the result of investigations conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp is prosecuting the case.

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