Fifteen-Year Sentence for Possession of Firearm & Ammunition by a Convicted Felon
BISMARCK - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on
July 30, 2012, Arthur D. Smith, 30, of Minot, N.D., was sentenced by U.S. District
Judge Daniel L. Hovland on a charge of possession of firearm and ammunition by a
convicted felon. Smith pleaded guilty to the charge on April 24, 2012.
Judge Hovland sentenced Smith to serve 15 years in federal prison, to be followed
by two years of supervised release. Smith was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment
to the Crime Victim's Fund.
During the early morning hours of December 7, 2011, the Ward County Sheriff’s
Office responded to a report of a vehicle setting on the road running for more than 30
minutes on Highway 2, just east of Minot, N.D. Upon arrival, officers saw an individual,
identified as Smith, asleep in the driver’s seat. Officers also observed a handgun setting
on the front passenger seat. Smith was the only person in the vehicle.
Smith was prohibited from possessing either a firearm or ammunition by virtue of
his previous convictions for accomplice to terrorizing, Ward County, N.D., in 2003;
aggravated assault, Ward County, N.D., in 2006; and burglary, Ward County, N.D., in
2008.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms &
Explosives and the Ward County Sheriff's Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hagler prosecuted the case.
