Sioux Falls Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor. The sentencing took place on May 14, 2025.

Stacy Shannon Hoover, age 57, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Once released from federal prison, Hoover will need to register as a sex offender.

Hoover was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024. He pleaded guilty on February 7, 2025.

The conviction stemmed from an incident on March 10, 2024, when Hoover, who was using his cell phone to access Facebook, initiated a text conversation with what he thought was a 15-year-old female. Unbeknownst to him, the 15-year-old girl was actually an undercover law enforcement agent. During the chat conversation, Hoover raised the topic of sex, and he set up a time and location for a sexual encounter with a person he thought to be a 15-year-old girl. Hoover showed up at the meeting place and was arrested without incident.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota ICAC Task Force, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the Sioux Falls Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Hoover was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.