Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Mission, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Cassius Farmer, age 28, was indicted on November 9, 2021.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on November 16, 2021, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that on October 21, 2021, in Mission, Farmer having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, knowingly possessed a firearm.

The charge is merely an accusation and Farmer is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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 is being conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson is prosecuting the case.   

Farmer was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.  A trial date has not been set.

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