Indianapolis man found guilty of illegal firearm possession after prior felonies

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A jury has convicted a 57-year-old man of illegally possessing multiple firearms after being convicted of felonies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis says.

The case against Salam Abdul Ali, of Indianapolis, began when Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called Jan. 28 to a domestic disturbance at a home. A woman who lived in the home reported Ali owned guns and had threatened her, her children, and her brother after an argument the previous night. A news release issued Wednesday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not say give the location of the home.

IMPD returned to the home with a search warrant Feb. 14 and found five firearms plus ammunition and gun accessories in his bedroom. The release did not provide details on the weapons. Officers’ bodycams recorded the raid.

The officers learned that Ali’s former name was Christopher Butler. He had changed his name after he was convicted of murder in Marion County and sentenced to sentenced to 60 years in prison. Online records show the case was filed in November 1986.

He had been released from state prison in approximately 2013, according to the news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In 2019, Ali had been convicted in federal court for his part in a drug-trafficking conspiracy and sentenced to time served in federal prison.

Ali, who was on federal supervised release during the raid in February, had been prohibited from ever again legally possessing a firearm as a result of his felony convictions.

The release said Ali would be sentenced “at a future hearing.”

News 8 reached out by email to IMPD for a jail-booking photo of Ali but did not immediately receive a reply.