A Rapid City man has been sentenced for larceny, as announced by United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell. U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte handed down the sentence on March 24, 2025.
Zyin Wright, aged 22, received a sentence of time served from his arrest on March 27, 2024, until March 24, 2025—approximately one year in custody. He will also undergo three years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Additionally, Wright is required to pay restitution amounting to $4,124.47.
Wright was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2024 and entered a guilty plea on December 16, 2024.
The conviction relates to an incident in March of 2024 when Wright stole a motor vehicle from a residence in Rapid City on the evening of March 26. He drove the vehicle to Mission, South Dakota, located within the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The theft was reported on the morning of March 27 and the vehicle was soon found in Mission with help from vehicle-tracking software. Wright was apprehended later that day in Mission.
The case fell under federal jurisdiction due to the Major Crimes Act requiring certain violent crimes occurring in Indian Country to be prosecuted federally rather than at the state level.
The investigation involved both Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson led the prosecution.