Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Rapid City Man Sentenced to 18 Months for Illegally Possessing a Firearm
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of an Unregistered Firearm was sentenced on August 16, 2021, by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Shaun Shorter, age 32, was sentenced to 18 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.
Shorter was indicted for the charges by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2020, and pleaded guilty on March 10, 2021. Shorter was knowingly in possession of an illegal sawed-off shotgun, which was found after he came into contact with law enforcement in April 2020 in Rapid City.
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.
Shorter was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.