Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

RAPID CITY, S.D. — U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Rapid City man convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The sentencing took place Feb. 7.

Sam Boyd, 35, was sentenced to 23 1/3 years in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to pay a $300 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Boyd was indicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition by a federal grand jury in February 2022. He was convicted at a federal jury trial in November 2023.

In the fall of 2020, Boyd began obtaining methamphetamine from a co-conspirator in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The methamphetamine was both mailed or transported to western South Dakota on multiple occasions by Boyd and his co-conspirators. Boyd then distributed the methamphetamine to others for use and to further distribute. Throughout the conspiracy, Boyd routinely possessed multiple firearms and ammunition, despite being prohibited from doing so due to a prior felony conviction.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team, which is a local drug task force comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the South Dakota National Guard.

Boyd was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

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 works together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops 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.

###