St. Cloud nonprofit leader, commission member accused of illegally selling gun

ST. CLOUD – A nonprofit founder and member of St. Cloud’s planning commission is being accused of illegally selling a gun, according to charges filed this week in Stearns County District Court.

Lenora O. Hunt, 38, was charged Monday with one gross misdemeanor count of illegally transferring a gun. Her next court date has yet to be scheduled.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators from the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force in July used an informant to purchase a firearm from Devounteono L. Tyson, whom the task force had been investigating for allegedly selling large quantities of fentanyl pills and firearms in St. Cloud.

Investigators collected phone records that show Tyson communicated with Hunt about the cost of the firearm and then went to her nonprofit, Too Much Talent, in St. Cloud. Investigators watched Tyson enter the nonprofit, in the 1400 block of 5th Street N., and leave with a pistol. “Hunt failed to take any measures to comply with Minnesota statutes that regulate firearm transfers,” the complaint states.

Before Tyson met with Hunt on July 30, the task force also recorded him discussing Hunt’s run for city office and “being able to help Tyson and several co-defendants with criminal cases once she wins,” the complaint states.

In May, Hunt filed to run for St. Cloud City Council and was eliminated in the August primary with less than 3% of the vote.

Before the primary, Hunt did not respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s requests to respond to a candidate questionnaire, but she told the St. Cloud Times in 2020 when she ran for City Council that she had lived in the community for three years and recently founded Too Much Talent to provide education, resources and programming to residents.

The complaint against Hunt says that during the investigation, “numerous co-conspirators” who were later charged with fentanyl distribution frequented the nonprofit building.

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said Thursday that Hunt has resigned from the planning commission.

“Immediately after finding out about the charges on Wednesday afternoon and based on the seriousness of these charges, I asked Ms. Hunt to resign from the planning commission pending the conclusion of all legal matters,” Kleis said. “She did.”

The planning commission is a seven-member board appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. The commission helps plan long-range zoning and development and acts as an advisory board for many issues before they go before the City Council.