Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A Sioux Falls man has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm while prohibited as a felon and drug user. The sentencing of Jamie Perez, 43, was announced by U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons and took place on January 12, 2026, before Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange at the U.S. District Court.
Perez will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024 and pleaded guilty on October 7, 2025.
The case stems from an incident on September 28, 2024, when Sioux Falls Police officers found Perez asleep behind the wheel of his running vehicle on a city street. Officers arrested him for Driving Under the Influence and discovered a scale with methamphetamine residue along with a Smith & Wesson 9MM pistol during a search of his vehicle. Perez is barred from possessing firearms due to a prior felony conviction for Possession of Controlled Substance in 2018.
“This defendant was found by the Sioux Falls Police passed out behind the wheel of a running car, high on methamphetamine and in possession of a loaded gun,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “Our streets are immeasurably safer now that he has been shipped off to federal prison.”
The investigation was conducted by the Sioux Falls Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce prosecuted the case.
Perez was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after sentencing.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through cooperation among law enforcement agencies and community organizations. The Department launched an updated violent crime reduction strategy for PSN on May 26, 2021, emphasizing trust-building within communities, support for violence prevention organizations, focused enforcement priorities, and ongoing evaluation of results.
