A 19-year-old Minnesota man has been convicted in federal court for illegally possessing a machine gun while driving to a high school graduation.

Amiir Ali faces up to 10 years in prison following his conviction. Authorities said he was arrested on June 3, 2025, after officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered a Glock 10mm semiautomatic pistol under his seat. The weapon was equipped with a 33-round extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device, or a “switch.”

According to court documents, the officer who stopped the vehicle recognized Ali from prior investigations and believed he was associated with gang-related shootings. Ali and two others in the car told police they were heading to the Edina High School graduation ceremony at the University of Minnesota.

The officers were aware that a shooting had occurred at a graduation ceremony at the same location days earlier. Ali tried to flee the scene but was apprehended.

Ali was initially detained but later released without charges. Days later, on June 6, 2025, he was arrested again when police responded to a shooting at Burnsville High School’s graduation ceremony. At that shooting, police found a handgun with an extended magazine on the floor of his car. He was subsequently charged in Dakota County in that case with two counts of drive-by shooting and one count of second-degree assault.

“This defendant possessed an extremely dangerous weapon – a machine gun created by the application of a device known as a switch that converts a legal firearm to an illegal one,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Illegal weapons like this are unduly dangerous and offer nothing legitimate in a law abiding society. The Criminal Division will continue to prosecute illegal firearms offenses like this one to keep communities safe.”