United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person was sentenced on February 18, 2022, by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Waylon Loefer, age 42, was sentenced to three and ½ years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Loefer was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 17, 2021, and pleaded guilty on September 27, 2021. The charge stems from Loefer, a previously convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing firearms, knowingly possessing a Taurus, model PT840, .40 Smith & Wesson, semi-automatic pistol, which was found after Loefer came into contact with law enforcement in February 2021 at 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.
Loefer was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.