SD Law enforcement seized 368 illegal firearms in 2023

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — In 2023, local law enforcement seized 368 firearms possessed in violation in South Dakota.

93 defendants were charged with illegally owning, possessing, using or obtaining one or more of those firearms, according to United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell.

In one August 2022 instanc, three defendants burglarized Reloaders Corner, a licensed federal firearm retailer in Isabel. 105 firearms and ammunition were stolen, then illegally trafficked to other people. Several firearms were recovered in the Midwest. One of the stolen guns was recovered at a suicide scene of a 17-year-old teen.

Ford Traversie was sentenced to more than three years, Westen Clausen to 10 years and Jaylen Ducheneaux to 12 years in federal prison.

In another instance, Harold Salway, Jr. purchased a minimum of 43 firearms as a straw purchaser, purchasing guns for people unable to purchase firearms for themselves. More than a dozen of the 43 firearms he bought showed up in crimes in Rapid City and the Pine Ridge Reservation. The crimes included two homicides, two suicides and other reports of shots fired. Many juveniles involved in crime had firearms in their possession purchased by Salway.

Salway was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

“Through these firearm seizures, we are confident law enforcement agencies prevented countless violent and drug-related crimes from occurring in communities across South Dakota,” said Ramsdell.

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