Rosebud Man Sentenced for Transportation of Stolen Firearm

PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of Transportation of Stolen Firearm. The sentencing took place on June 24, 2024.

Jeremiah Picotte, age 24, was sentenced to approximately five months in federal detention and three months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Picotte was indicted by a federal grand jury in February of 2024. He pleaded guilty on March 28, 2024.

On December 13, 2023, Picotte was visiting a federal firearm licensee store in Valentine, Nebraska. While in the store, he picked up an AR-15 rifle, went to an area of the store where the store clerk could not see, and put the firearm down his pant leg, concealing the rifle with his pants and shirt. He walked out of the store and took the firearm to the Rosebud Reservation. At the time he took the rifle from Nebraska to South Dakota, he knew it was stolen. He later had someone else return the firearm to law enforcement officers.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case was investigated by the Valentine Police Department, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Maher prosecuted the case.

Picotte was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to serve his sentence.