Southwest Minneapolis Man Arrested In Traffic Stop

A Southwest Minneapolis man has been charged with illegally possessing a .40-caliber handgun.

Gadelle Dante Ferguson, 28, is charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison.

Robbinsdale police on routine patrol on Nov. 7 spotted a car with extremely dark tinted windows on West Broadway Avenue, according to the criminal complaint, signed by Robbinsdale Police Detective Steve Cole.

An officer stopped the car and identified the driver as Ferguson. While he was speaking to Ferguson, the officer noticed a strong smell of marijuana, and asked Ferguson and his passenger to get out of the car.

The officer searched Ferguson’s car and found a large quantity of marijuana in a backpack behind the passenger seat, along with two other bags of marijuana, codeine cough syrup and a loaded .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, wrapped in two size 2XL t-shirts, on the rear seat, according to the complaint.

The three bags of marijuana weighed slightly more than one pound, the complaint says.

The officer also found a large pair of Nike basketball shoes in the backpack. Police noted that Ferguson is 6-foot-4 and weighs 270 pounds, while his passenger is 5-foot-6.

Ferguson’s passenger told police that Ferguson picked him up at his home earlier in the evening and offered to sell him marijuana. The man said he declined, although he had bought marijuana from him in the past, according to the complaint.

Ferguson’s criminal record includes felony convictions for attempted car theft in 2003 and illegally possessing a pistol in 2005. He is prohibited by law from possessing firearms.

Ferguson remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $75,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Dec. 11 in Hennepin County District Court.