Woodbury Felon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Illegal Possession of a Machinegun and Armed Robbery

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Alfonso Lee Seals, a Woodbury man, has been sentenced to 182 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for possessing a firearm as a felon and interfering with commerce by robbery, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

According to court documents, on June 14, 2023, Minneapolis police responded to a 911 call reporting a shootout between two cars along University Avenue Northeast. Responding officers found an abandoned car crashed into a utility pole. On the floorboard of the driver’s seat, law enforcement discovered a Glock model 27 .40 caliber pistol with a “switch” or “auto-sear” attached to it, making it fully automatic. Forensic testing confirmed that that the defendant, Alfonso Lee Seals, 28, possessed the pistol. On November 7, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the defendant’s brother’s home where they recovered a Taurus model G2S 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol, which had been reported stolen from Mounds View, Minnesota, in October 2022.  Forensic testing confirmed that the defendant possessed that pistol as well. On October 17, 2023, the defendant and an accomplice robbed a convenience store at gunpoint in Oakdale, Minnesota. Security camera footage showed the defendant ordering the victim cashier to his knees, placing a semiautomatic firearm to the cashier’s back, forcing him to open a cash register, and repeatedly threatening to kill the cashier during the robbery.

On December 23, 2024, Seals pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm as a felon and one count of interfering with commerce by robbery. In his plea agreement, Seals admitted that he knowingly and willingly possessed both firearms and that he possessed the Glock in connection with two other felonies—felony drive-by shooting and intentionally discharging a firearm under circumstances that endanger the safety of another. He also admitted that he and his accomplice robbed the convenience store at gunpoint and threatened to kill the victim cashier. Because Seals has multiple prior felony convictions for assault in both Hennepin and Dakota Counties, he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

“Minnesotans should have no tolerance for armed and violent career criminals,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “This behavior is shocking and unacceptable.  My office will continue to hold Seals—and others who would terrorize our community—accountable.”  

Seals was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Donovan W. Frank.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department, the Oakdale Police Department, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Campbell Warner prosecuted the case.