Eagle Butte Man Charged with False Statement

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for False Statement.

Paul William Stands For, age 24, was indicted on July 16, 2019.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on August 8, 2019, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is 5 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that on April 18, 2019, Stands For willfully and knowingly made a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement to a Task Force Officer with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force by stating that a handgun was his, when he in fact knew this statement was false.

The charge is merely an accusation and Stands For is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and local communities to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook is prosecuting the case.   

Stands For was released on bond pending trial.  A trial date has not been set.