Kenyan National Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Illegally Possessing a Firearm

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An illegal alien has been sentenced for illegally possessing a firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Catherine L. Crosby.

Stanley Amalemba Ambeyi, 39, a citizen of Kenya, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala has sentenced Ambeyi to 18 months in prison for that crime.

According to the record at Ambeyi's change-of-plea hearing, on April 11, 2025, an officer with the Birmingham Police Department initiated a traffic stop on Ambeyi. The officer observed a box of ammunition in the vehicle. This observation prompted the officer to ask Ambeyi if he had a firearm in the vehicle. Ambeyi stated that he did not have any firearms in the vehicle. The officer then informed Ambeyi that it was illegal to have an open alcoholic beverage in the vehicle and asked him to exit the vehicle. The officer recovered a Amadeo Rossi S. A. 22LR revolver from the vehicle and arrested Ambeyi.

At sentencing the government also presented evidence that, in November 2024, Ambeyi enticed a person he thought to be a fifteen-year-old girl to have sex with him for money. Charges for that conduct are pending against Ambeyi in Blount County Circuit Court.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The case was investigated by the ATF along with the Birmingham Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys John B. Ward and Ryan S. Rummage prosecuted the case.