Another violent gun criminal spun out by MN Courts, with a dose of MN Freedom Fund thrown in
By Crime Watch MN, Nov. 2, 2022
Another violent gun criminal was recently slapped on the wrist by Minnesota Courts and was ordered ZERO time to serve on a 5-year sentence for a conviction on felon in possession of a firearm. Despite several probation violation warrants being issued just weeks after being sentenced, his stayed sentence has not been revoked.
Adding insult to injury, Malcolm Carlos Edwards, 21, was bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) after being charged in the original case with the gun crime.
Two days after being bailed out by MFF, Edwards stole a vehicle and assaulted police.
In the gun case, Edwards was found by police in the driver’s seat of a stolen vehicle in Nov. 2021 at 29th and Stevens Ave S. in Minneapolis. On the driver’s seat was a 9mm handgun and extended magazine. Edwards had ammunition in his pocket. In a search incident to arrest, officers also found .31 grams of meth in Edwards’ possession which he admitted he sells to make money, the charges said.
Edwards was charged with four felonies in the case (2 narcotics, 2 felon in possession gun/ammo).
At the time of the Nov. 2021 gun/drug charges, Edwards had three other open cases; two on felony charges of burglary, and one on charges of theft.
The charging document also stated Edwards had a violent juvenile conviction on aggravated robbery making him ineligible to possess firearms.
Minnesota Freedom Fund paid $10,000 no-strings cash to bail out Edwards after he was charged in the gun/drug case DESPITE the fact that Edwards had three other open felony cases, and the fact that he had a juvenile conviction on a violent crime.
TWO DAYS after being bailed out by Minnesota Freedom Fund, Edwards stole a vehicle in Crystal. Police in Robbinsdale spotted the vehicle and followed it until it lost control and spun out. Edwards tried to flee on foot but was apprehended.
Edwards was briefly hospitalized and refused to identify himself. When an officer tried to open Edwards palm for fingerprint ID, he tried to bite officers. While being transported to jail, Edwards broke away from officers and fled on foot. When officers found him in a nearby construction site, Edwards spit in the face of one of the officers and attempted to spit on another.
Despite all of this repeated felony activity, Hennepin County prosecutors decided to toss Edwards a plea deal on the gun/drug case which called for the dismissal of several of the pending cases and several felony charges.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Edwards pled guilty and was convicted in May 2022 in two separate cases on one felony count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of third-degree burglary.
Edwards was sentenced to 60 months and 15 months in prison, respectively, in the two cases.
HOWEVER, Judge Paul Scoggin stayed the prison sentences in a dispositional downward departure citing Edwards was “amenable to probation.” Edwards was instead sentenced to 365 days on electronic home monitoring (EHM) to be served concurrently on both convictions.
Minnesota only requires offenders to serve two-thirds of their stated sentence, meaning the EHM sentence would be 243 days.
Felony charges/cases dismissed at sentencing: — One count felon in possession of a firearm — One count 3rd degree narcotics sales — One count 5th degree narcotics possession — One count auto theft — One count theft — One count 4th degree assault — One count escape — One count 3rd degree burglary Also dismissed: Gross misd theft; misd theft; false info; fleeing
One month after receiving the stayed sentences, a probation violation report was filed with the court and a warrant was issued for Edwards’ arrest in June 2022 in both cases. Edwards admitted the violation in an August 2022 hearing and his probation was continued.
Five days later, another probation violation report was filed with the court and a warrant was issued for Edwards’ arrest in both cases.
Edwards was arrested on the warrants on Oct. 5, 2022, and remained in custody awaiting probation violation hearings in the cases.
Despite once again admitting to violating probation in a recent court hearing, the stayed sentences were not revoked, but were again upheld by Judge Julie Allyn, who was recently appointed by Gov. Tim Walz.
Edwards was sentenced to 180 days in the Hennepin County workhouse on the probation violation by Judge Julie Allyn. However, in addition to only being required to serve two-thirds of that sentence (120 days) under Minnesota sentencing rules, the sentencing order written by Judge Allyn provides for early release following completion of a chemical dependency curriculum.
Edwards has a projected release date from the workhouse of Feb. 9, 2023.
This is not an anomaly. This is our system.
We will be adding Edwards to our two ever-expanding “mega threads,” one that tracks gun criminals spun out by Minnesota Courts, and the other that tracks dangerous offenders bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Find both lists on our Twitter page and bookmark them
Gun criminal thread: https://twitter.com/CrimeWatchMpls/status/1586821656206606339
MFF thread: https://twitter.com/CrimeWatchMpls/status/1570586054658523136
We’re working on getting these threads posted here on Medium and on Patreon so they can be shared with others who are not on Twitter.
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