Rapid City Man Charged with Illegal Firearm Posession

Law enforcement has dropped the hammer on Nicholas Carlow, a 21-year-old Rapid City resident, charging him with Unlawful Possession of Firearms. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Dakota announced that Carlow was charged on August 20, 2020, after being caught with a Cugir Arms Factory semi-automatic pistol and a stolen Ruger semi-automatic pistol in March and July 2020.

Carlow, who has previously been convicted of a felony and is thus prohibited from possessing firearms, stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on August 26, entering a not guilty plea. The stakes are high for Carlow; if found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

This case is a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime by fostering collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. It also falls under Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s effort to combat gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Both programs are crucial steps in ensuring public safety.

The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson is leading the prosecution of this case.

Carlow remains detained pending trial, with no trial date set as of yet. As the community awaits the outcome, the message is clear: illegal firearm possession will not be tolerated in Rapid City or anywhere else.

For more information on Project Guardian and its efforts to reduce gun violence, please visit https://www.justice.gov/projectguardian.

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