Rapid City Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of a Stolen Firearm
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Stolen Firearm was sentenced on April 22, 2022, by Judge Karen E. Schreier, U.S. District Court.
Huya Smoke, age 20, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Smoke was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 19, 2021, and pleaded guilty on December 3, 2021. The conviction stems from Smoke knowingly being in possession of a stolen 9mm semi-automatic pistol in Rapid City in April 2021. At the time, Smoke was also under indictment in Meade County, South Dakota.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.
Smoke was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
