Montez Terriel Lee Jr.
Biography
Montez Terriel Lee Jr. was federally prosecuted for setting fire to the Max It Pawn Shop in Minneapolis during the protests following George Floyd’s murder. Lee was arrested on June 15, 2020. He pleaded guilty to arson on July 22, 2021, and on January 14, 2022 a federal judge sentenced him to 120 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
On August 8, 2025 the Eighth Circuit reversed the dismissal of Lee’s postconviction motion as untimely and remanded. It held that the limitations period ran from finality after the April 13, 2022 amended restitution judgment, making his April 27, 2023 motion timely. The ruling did not decide his ineffective-assistance claim on the merits, vacate the arson conviction or 120-month sentence, or order release. Source: https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/25/08/242017P.pdf#page=14
