Myon Burrell found guilty of drug and gun charges 4 years after prison sentence commuted

MINNEAPOLIS — A 38-year-old man who spent 18 years behind bars for murder before his sentence was commuted in 2020 has been found guilty of drug and firearm charges.

On Tuesday, a court found Myon Burrell guilty of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. This comes a little over a year after officers found a handgun, along with substances that field tested positive for marijuana, methamphetamine and MDMA inside his vehicle during a traffic stop.

A Robbinsdale police officer conducted the traffic stop on Aug. 29, 2023, after seeing Burrell speeding and driving over the center line of the road. Charging documents state that when the officer approached his car and Burrell rolled down the window, there was a "very strong odor of burnt marijuana."

The officer determined Burrell to be intoxicated during a field sobriety test and told him to sit in the squad car; Burrell then resisted, according to documents, and was eventually placed in handcuffs.  

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled for Burrell yet.

Burrell faces another drug possession charge after, in May, officers discovered a pill that tested positive for methamphetamine in his vehicle during a traffic stop. During a subsequent search of Burrell's home, investigators found a suitcase with $60,000 in cash and a business card with Burrell's name on it, charges say.

Burrell was accused in the 2002 murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Though he always maintained his innocence, his case was used by then-Hennepin County Prosecutor Amy Klobuchar as an example of her tough-on-crime policy, which years later was brought under scrutiny during her unsuccessful run at the presidency in 2020.

An independent national legal panel determined that there was a "failure to investigate that illustrates tunnel vision" and that evidence that could have helped exonerate Burrell was either ignored or minimized. His case was an example of the faulty handling of criminal investigations, particularly involving young Black men.

Burrell's sentence was commuted but his request for a pardon was denied, meaning his felony conviction remained on his record.