A 30-year-old Eagle Butte, SD, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by A Prohibited Person has been sentenced in federal court.
Christian Kersten must serve 24 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also loses ownership of the firearm.
The conviction stemmed from an incident that occurred in January 2018, when a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe officer made a traffic stop and Kersten was one occupant of the vehicle. Following a search of the vehicle, law enforcement recovered a firearm in the location Kersten had been occupying. Kersten had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, was a fugitive from justice and was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance, making it illegal for him to possess firearms.
This case is part of the US Attorney’s Office’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods”– a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Kersten was immediately turned over to the custody of the US Marshals Service.
