Previously Convicted in Box Butte County
Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Paul Arthur Riso, 34, of Sidney, Nebraska, was sentenced in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Senior United States District Court Judge John M. Gerrard to 36 months’ imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Riso was also sentenced to a three-year term of supervised release to be served after he completes his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. Riso pleaded guilty to his offense on February 7, 2023.
On May 3, 2022, Sidney police officers stopped Riso after seeing him drive 33 mph in a 25-mph zone. Riso got out of the driver’s seat before the officers approached his vehicle. As Riso leaned into the vehicle to grab the vehicle’s paperwork, officers noticed the outline of a tactical-style vest underneath his sweatshirt. The officers unzipped Riso’s sweatshirt and saw that he was wearing a tactical-style vest with loaded rifle magazines affixed to the front. Riso denied having a firearm with him. The police seized the rifle magazines and towed the vehicle.
When officers later searched the vehicle, they located an AR-style pistol. A loaded rifle magazine was found inserted into the firearm. The ammunition in the firearm was of the same brand and caliber as the ammunition in the magazines found on the tactical-style vest Riso was wearing. Officers also discovered the firearm was equipped with a 3D printed sear in the trigger mechanism, which illegally converted the firearm from a semi-automatic firearm to a fully automatic machinegun.
Police subsequently obtained a search warrant for a residence where Riso was staying temporarily. During a search of the residence, police found a 3D printer, 3D-printed Glock “auto switches” (an after-market part which illegally converts a Glock handgun from semiautomatic to fully automatic), ammunition and rifle magazines of the same caliber and brand as those seized from Riso during the traffic stop, a holster for a handgun, an extended Glock magazine, and other parts for firearms.
Riso had previously been convicted of burglary in 2013, in Box Butte County, and as a convicted felon is not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition.
The investigation was conducted by the Sidney Police Department, the Nebraska State Patrol, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.