ST. PAUL, M.N. (KELO.com) – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that Amiir Mawlid Ali, of Minneapolis, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun. Ali was previously found guilty on April 16, 2026, by a federal jury trial.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on June 3, 2025, Minneapolis Police Department Officers executed a traffic stop on a silver sedan due to multiple traffic violations. The car had three occupants, including the defendant who was in the front passenger seat. When officers removed Ali from the vehicle to conduct a safety sweep, Ali attempted to flee but officers apprehended him before he could escape.
Officers found a firearm equipped with a machine-gun conversion device under Ali’s seat during the safety sweep. The backseat squad car video shown at trial shows Ali instructing the other occupants to deny knowledge of the machine gun of which was found to have Ali’s DNA on it. Officers learned the same day that the firearm had been reported stolen. An expert at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive examined the firearm and established that it was able to fire multiple rounds of ammunition with a single pull of the trigger, making it operate as a machine gun.
One of the officers recognized Ali as a member of the “Muddy” street gang, known to law enforcement for its history of suspected involvement in weapons offenses.
Ali was initially released following his arrest for this offense. On June 5, 2025, the United States filed a complaint alleging possession of a machine gun. Law enforcement then executed a federal warrant and arrested Ali on the scene of a suspected gang-related shooting at a Twin Cities high school graduation. Officers heard Ali scream, “you missed,” to an individual believed to be involved in the incident.
“The defendant possessed an extremely dangerous weapon that is capable of extreme damage. Today’s sentence ensures that this defendant is held accountable for the public safety threat that he posed to the community,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
“While violent crime rates are down across the board, we have seen far too much gang violence in the Twin Cities over the past few months,” said FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson. “As we work relentlessly to secure our neighborhoods, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and our state and local partners continue to prioritize investigations of gang members driving violence with illegal firearms. Today’s sentence should be a message to gang members across the state—when you carry an illegal firearm, justice will find you.”
This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI and Minneapolis Police Department.
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