Hermosa Woman Sentenced to Eight Years on Gun and Drug Charges

Press Release September 8, 2021

Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Hermosa, South Dakota, woman convicted on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person was sentenced on August 30, 2021, by Judge Karen E. Schreier, U.S. District Court.

Megan Smith, age 39, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Smith was indicted for the charges by a federal grand jury on June 11, 2020, and pleaded guilty on May 7, 2021. Smith, being an unlawful user of a controlled substance, was found to knowingly be in possession of multiple firearms, some of which were stolen, and a sawed-off shotgun after she came into contact with law enforcement in March 2020 in Rapid City. Smith was also found in possession of methamphetamine and had been distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in and around 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 Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.

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

Department of Justice Action Center