Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A Sioux Falls man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm. Boru Guye Wako, Jr., 39, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on September 15, 2025. In addition to the prison term, Wako will serve three years of supervised release and must pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Wako was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023 on charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person and Illegal Receipt of a Firearm by a Person Under Indictment. He was found guilty after a two-day jury trial on July 1, 2025.
The case began with an incident on March 8, 2023, when Sioux Falls Police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle last seen being driven by Wako. Detectives with the Sioux Falls Violent Crime Unit attempted to stop Wako, but he fled through a residential area and later abandoned the vehicle in an alleyway. When approached again by detectives, Wako escaped on foot and stole another vehicle. A search of the first vehicle led officers to find a firearm in the driver’s side door that later tested positive for Wako’s DNA. At the time, Wako had previously been convicted of a felony and was under indictment for another felony offense, making him prohibited from possessing firearms.
U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell commented on the case: “This case is the result of powerful partnerships between local and federal law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell. “For nearly three years now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has worked with the Sioux Falls Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to charge local violent offenders with federal firearm offenses whenever possible. Through federal prosecution, we have been removing violent offenders from the streets of Sioux Falls for significant periods of time, interrupting violence and keeping our community safe.”
The investigation involved cooperation among multiple agencies including the Sioux Falls Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Petersen and U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell prosecuted the case.
After sentencing, Wako was immediately taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
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