Blaine Man Pleaded Guilty to Illegal Possession of Multiple Firearms

MINNEAPOLIS – A Blaine man pleaded guilty yesterday to possession of eight firearms as an unlawful user of a controlled substance, announced Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk.

According to court documents, on August 15, 2020, a protest took place at the Minneapolis Police Department’s 5th Precinct building. The event became violent and destructive when individuals began throwing rocks and other objects, breaking windows, firing mortar-type fireworks at the building and at officers stationed on the roof, spray painting the building, and using paint to obscure the video surveillance cameras. After reviewing video surveillance footage, investigators were able to identify Thomas Wilder Moseley, 29, as one of the individuals who was spray painting the front windows of the building. The building sustained several thousand dollars of damages a result of the incident.

According to court documents, on October 15, 2020, Moseley was present inside the Hennepin County Government Center where protesters had gathered during a court appearance for the four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd. Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Moseley on probable cause based on his involvement in the August 15 incident. At the time of his arrest, Moseley was carrying a loaded Glock, model 26 Gen5, 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.

According to court documents, following Moseley’s arrest, Minneapolis Police officers executed a search warrant at Moseley’s residence in Blaine, Minnesota, and recovered two firearms, more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition, 96 grams of marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia. Officers also obtained a search warrant for Moseley’s Toyota Tacoma, which was parked in downtown Minneapolis near the Government Center. Among other things, officers recovered from the vehicle five firearms, a large amount of ammunition, a hatchet, a crowbar, gas masks, and controlled substances, including marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, and cocaine.

This case is being 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 an investigation conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber M. Brennan.

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