A federal jury convicted an alleged member of a Minneapolis street gang of multiple firearm charges stemming from a string of gun-related crimes dating back to 2020.

Clenest Demon Wells, Jr., was found guilty in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota in St. Paul of three counts of illegal possession of firearms and one count of unlawful possession of a machinegun.

Wells picked up the charges in August 2023 during a sweeping indictment by the U.S. Attorney's Office that netted 13 other alleged gang members on various federal drug and firearm accusations. According to a criminal complaint, Wells is associated with the Lows gang and Stick Up Boys.

His sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

"Today's conviction holds Wells accountable for the fear and violence he has inflicted on the community for far too long," acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a prepared statement.

The complaint lists the first offense occurred April 6, 2020, on a Metro Transit bus, where police in court filings said they found Wells threatening another passenger with a black HiPoint 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol. Wells told police the passenger was a man he "previously had problems with."

Two years later, Minneapolis police officers encountered Wells again when they pulled him over for speeding. Officers in the complaint said they found a black Springfield Model XD9 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol between the driver's seat and center console.

Wells is prohibited from carrying firearms after pleading guilty in August 2019 to a felony charge of terroristic threats.

On July 30, 2023, just weeks before he was federally charged, police found Wells carrying a gun again while responding to calls about a fight in a parking lot at Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Police said Wells had a Glock 17 9-millimeter handgun with an auto sear, commonly called a switch, fastened on it.

The pistol could fire 10 rounds in less than a second during tests by the FBI, the complaint said. Further preliminary tests of the Glock linked the firearm to six different shootings in the Twin Cities since December 2022.