Minneapolis twin brothers have pleaded guilty to federal gun charges after being caught with multiple firearms and ammunition while serving probation for illegally possessing machine guns earlier this year.
19-year-old Minneapolis twin brothers plead guilty to federal gun charges
Cortez and Quantez Ward were caught illegally possessing firearms while already on probation for January gun convictions.
November 22, 2022 at 9:32PM
Quantez and Cortez Ward, 19, were first charged by Hennepin County prosecutors in January after being caught with three handguns outfitted with devices that make them operate as fully automatic weapons. The brothers were first arrested while fleeing police who surveilled them at a funeral of a slain friend in Minneapolis.
The Ward brothers both pleaded guilty to the Hennepin County charges in May and were released on terms of probation. Yet four days after Cortez's sentencing hearing and one week before Quantez's, the two were stopped by Maple Grove police, and officers discovered a Polymer 80 pistol with an extended magazine loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition.
Law enforcement found more firearms while executing a federal arrest warrant at the brothers' home in July and, according to court documents, Quantez later told agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that the two were members of the 045/Freeshots, a north Minneapolis gang affiliated with the "Highs" gang collective.
This week, Quantez pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm as a felon related to the July 19 search. Last month, Cortez pleaded guilty to one count of possession of ammunition as a felon in connection to the May 6 traffic stop.
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz has not yet scheduled sentencing dates for the two men.
During his interview with ATF agents following the July arrest, Quantez admitted to participating in five separate shootings against other street gang members "over conflicts of their gang membership, social media arguments and dead friends," according to court documents.
Gun cases involving the auto-sear devices — or "switches" — used by the Ward brothers to make weapons fully automatic have become a focus of Minnesota federal prosecutors' push to charge more violent crime and gun cases since U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger returned to lead the office earlier this year.
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