Rapid City Man Sentenced for Illegal Possession of Firearm
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Kobes has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. The sentencing took place on January 31, 2023.
Majestic Fairbanks, 28, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Fairbanks was indicted for Possession of an Unregistered Firearm by a federal grand jury in March of 2022. He pleaded guilty on October 14, 2022.
Between December of 2019 and January of 2020, in Rapid City, Fairbanks possessed a destructive device, described as a metal aerosol canister with CO2 cartridges and a commercial grade firework containing explosives. Fairbanks broke out the front door of a local business and threw the canister inside. The firework then went off inside the business causing damage. Fairbanks was later found by law enforcement in possession of another identical device and admitted to manufacturing the destructive devices.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.
Fairbanks was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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