St. Cloud Community Activist Pleads Guilty To Illegal Gun Sale

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this story incorrectly listed Hunt's guilty plea as a gross misdemeanor. While Hunt was originally charged with a gross misdemeanor which carry more serious penalties, those charges were adjudicated downward by the court.  Hunt actually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. And the following story was updated on July 1, 2025 to reflect that correction.

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The founder of a St. Cloud non-profit focusing on youth has pleaded guilty in connection with an illegal gun sale.

Thirty-eight-year-old Lenora Hunt, who started the Too Much Talent organization, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully transferring a pistol.

Court records allege Hunt sold a handgun to a suspected drug dealer.

According to the charge filed in Stearns County District Court, investigators with the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force had been investigating Devounteono Tyson and others related to large fentanyl sales in central Minnesota.

Court records show an undercover officer set up a deal to buy a gun from Tyson in July 2024. Officers were monitoring Tyson's phone activity to identify co-conspirators in the drug sale ring. The officer says they watched as Tyson entered Too Much Talent and returned a short time later with the gun.

After the gun purchase, Tyson allegedly confirmed he got the gun from Hunt.

Court records show electronic surveillance and phone records indicate a phone call where the two discussed Tyson buying the gun, Hunt running for mayor and being able to help Tyson and others with criminal cases when she won.

The charges allege the two also talked about how much she wanted for the gun and the large amounts of grant funding she was getting.

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Authorities say Hunt failed to take any measures to comply with Minnesota gun sale laws.

Hunt ran for the St. Cloud City Council in 2020 and again in 2024. She resigned from her volunteer position on the St. Cloud Planning Commission after then Mayor Dave Kleis asked her to.

After pleading guilty, Hunt was immediately sentenced to a stayed sentence of 90 days in jail and must pay a small fine.