368 Guns Seized in South Dakota Crackdown

• SIOUX FALLS – In a major blow to illicit firearm trafficking in South Dakota, federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies seized 368 firearms that were possessed in violation of federal law in 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota.

U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced the seizure, which was the result of close cooperation between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), South Dakota State Highway Patrol, and numerous sheriff’s offices and police departments across the state.

The seized firearms were a significant portion of those that would have likely been used in violent crimes, said U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell. “Through these firearm seizures, we are confident law enforcement agencies prevented countless violent and drug-related crimes from occurring in communities across South Dakota.”

Efforts to seize illegal firearms are a testament to the strong law enforcement partnerships in South Dakota, which allow federal, state, and tribal resources to be combined to target some of the most dangerous individuals in the state and remove illegal firearms from the streets.

“Illegal firearms trafficking simply cannot be tolerated as it directly fuels violent crime within our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Riddle, of the St. Paul Field Division. “We at ATF will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners across South Dakota to pursue these perpetrators of violence.”

Some of the major firearms-related cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2023 include United States v. Sam Boyd, in which Defendant Sam Boyd, who began obtaining methamphetamine from a co-conspirator in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and distributed it to others for distribution, was found guilty of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Prohibited Person. Boyd was sentenced to 23 1/3 years in federal prison. The case was investigated by the DEA, ATF, and Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team.

United States v. Weston Clausen, Jaylen Ducheneaux, and Ford Traversie, in which three Defendants burglarized Reloaders Corner, a licensed federal firearm retailer in Isabel in August of 2022, stealing 105 firearms, ammunition, and other items, resulted in all three Defendants pleading guilty to Theft of Firearms from a Federal Firearm Licensee and Third-degree Burglary. Tragically, one of the stolen firearms was recovered at the scene of a suicide by a 17-year-old teenager. Traversie was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison; Clausen was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota charged approximately 93 defendants with illegally owning, possessing, using, or obtaining one or more firearms in 2023. The 368 seized firearms will not be returned to their owners, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with law enforcement partners to prevent further illicit firearm trafficking in the state.