What was supposed to be a high-school graduation night in the Twin Cities instead landed a teenager in front of a federal jury. On April 15, 2026, a federal jury in the District of Minnesota found 19-year-old Amiir Mawlid Ali guilty of possessing a machine gun after officers discovered a converted firearm during a traffic stop while he was on his way to a Twin Cities high-school graduation, prosecutors said. The verdict capped a weeks-long federal trial that prosecutors say tied modified handguns to a string of graduation-day shootings last summer. Ali faces up to 10 years in prison, and a sentencing date has not yet been set.
Prosecutors told jurors the handgun had been fitted with a machine-gun conversion device and an extended magazine, turning what would normally be a semi-automatic pistol into something far more volatile. A firearms expert testified that the weapon spit out roughly 15 rounds in about two seconds. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the jury ultimately convicted Ali on one count of possession of a machine gun.
The traffic stop that kicked off the case happened on June 3, 2025, at 27th Street East and 18th Avenue South in Minneapolis, where officers say they found a Glock under the passenger seat. As reported by CBS Minnesota, court documents state the Glock was loaded with a 33-round extended magazine and equipped with a conversion device, and the people in the car told officers they were headed to an Edina High School graduation ceremony at the University of Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Justice says Ali was arrested again on June 6, 2025, after police responded to a shooting at a Burnsville High School graduation ceremony.
“This defendant possessed an extremely dangerous weapon,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said in the department’s written statement, which praised the coordination among federal, state and local investigators. According to the department, the trial was handled by attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
How 'Glock Switches' Turn Pistols Into Machine Guns
Conversion devices, commonly called “Glock switches,” allow a semi-automatic pistol to fire continuously with a single trigger pull. Federal authorities treat that change as creating a machine gun under federal law. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has repeatedly warned that possessing or trafficking these devices is illegal and has pursued prosecutions in other cases involving similar gear. According to the ATF, the devices are particularly dangerous because they dramatically increase a firearm’s rate of fire and make it much harder to control.
Charges And What Comes Next
The jury convicted Ali on one federal count of possession of a machine gun, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. As reported by CBS Minnesota, a federal judge will decide the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and no sentencing hearing has been scheduled.
The verdict closes a chapter in a series of incidents at Twin Cities graduation events in May and June 2025 that drew heavy federal scrutiny and led to extra security at public ceremonies. Local safety officials say the outcome highlights an ongoing focus on illegal conversion devices and large-capacity magazines at crowded community events.
