Pierre, SD (KELO AM) - United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Unregistered Firearms was sentenced on March 6, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Darren Stepp-Zafft, age 30, was sentenced to 37 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $300 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Stepp-Zafft was indicted for Possession of Unregistered Firearms by a federal grand jury on May 10, 2016. He pled not guilty on May 23, 2016. On December 10, 2015, law enforcement officers searched Stepp-Zafft’s Sioux Falls residence looking for evidence of a firearm that discharged into an adjoining neighbor’s apartment. During the search, officers found the defendant to be in possession of two illegal firearm silencers, five illegal short rifles, and nine illegal destructive devices that could be readily assembled into grenades. Zafft went to trial and the jury convicted him of all counts.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Sioux Falls Police Department, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
Stepp-Zafft was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.