DULUTH — A former Duluthian and felon who was charged with gun possession after turning in a firearm last summer pleaded guilty Friday in St. Louis County District Court.
Steven Cooper, 31, was charged with felony possession of a firearm by the St. Louis County Attorney's Office in July of 2022, after he told his parole officer about finding a pistol and some ammunition among things in a vehicle left behind by his brother, who had died the previous April.
He had wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt and put it in a secure place inside his apartment building before calling the parole officer, who notified police, the criminal complaint says.
Cooper, now a St. Louis Park resident, had been convicted of a violent crime as a teenager.
Last spring at a news conference held by the Duluth NAACP, Cooper said that he was "honest from the start. By doing the right thing, I am being punished."
His attorney, Joseph Vaccaro, told Judge Dale Harris in court Friday he expects to ask him for a departure from guideline of a 5-year prison sentence in lieu of probation.
Prosecutor Tony Rubin pointed out what he called an inconsistency related to when Cooper found the gun. Cooper told law enforcement he had found it the night before he called his parole officer, Rubin said. Cooper said in court he found it the day he called.
Harris ordered a pre-sentence investigation.
