August 2026:
U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on August 17, 2026.
Kyle Lee Tobacco, 32, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Tobacco was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2025. He pleaded guilty on May 15, 2026.
Tobacco was arrested on March 4, 2025, when law enforcement officers conducting a search warrant found him in possession of a pistol in his hotel room. He was prohibited from possessing the firearm because he had previous felony convictions for escape and possession of a firearm by a felon.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). Through PSN, the District of South Dakota seeks to bring together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Sioux Falls Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce prosecuted the case.
Tobacco was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
July 2026:
U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, woman convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on July 27, 2026.
Kourtney Lang, 33, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Lang was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in February 2025. She pleaded guilty on March 2, 2026.
Lang was part of the Matthew Shade drug trafficking organization that obtained methamphetamine and fentanyl in Arizona and then distributed the drugs in South Dakota. Lang’s co-conspirators worked to get the methamphetamine to South Dakota through the mail and also by car. Once the methamphetamine was in South Dakota, Lang assisted her co-conspirators by working to distribute it to others and by collecting drug debts. In total, investigators believe that Lang was involved with distributing over eight pounds of methamphetamine throughout her involvement with the conspiracy.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
This case was investigated by the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force and the United States Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.
Lang was ordered to self-surrender to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on August 17, 2026.
June 29, 2026:
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced last week (June 25, 2026) the results of four landmark federal prosecutions in the past year that have systematically dismantled major drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) connected to the Mexican cartels responsible for flooding South Dakota communities with methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other deadly narcotics. Through coordinated, long-term investigations involving federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota has secured federal convictions against 54 members of these four organizations, with eight cases still pending and one case dismissed due to the defendant’s death, and has obtained substantial federal prison sentences—including multiple sentences exceeding 20 and 30 years—against their leaders, lieutenants, suppliers, and sub-distributors in the past year alone.
Conservatively estimated, these four DTOs together trafficked more than 1,000 pounds—over half a ton—of methamphetamine and multiple kilograms of fentanyl pills and powder into South Dakota over the course of recent years. The defendants ranged from out-of-state suppliers connected to Mexican cartels to local distributors operating from short-term rental properties, hotels, and private residences across Sioux Falls, Rapid City, the Pine Ridge Reservation, and surrounding communities.
As the capstone of those efforts, U.S. Attorney Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Las Vegas, Nevada, man convicted by a federal jury of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, as well as an additional three of his subordinates for similar drug-related crimes.
On June 24, 2026, Quantiae Harris, 49, was sentenced to 33 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2024. He was found guilty by a federal jury following a four-day trial on March 27, 2026. Harris was the leader of a California and Nevada-based drug trafficking organization responsible for bringing large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl to the Sioux Falls area. More than anyone else, Harris was responsible for the introduction and distribution of fentanyl powder — the most potent, deadly and destructive form of that illicit substance — into the Sioux Falls illegal drug market. At his sentencing, Judge Schreier noted that the drug quantity involved in the prosecution of the Quantiae Harris drug trafficking organization was one of the highest she had seen in more than 25 years on the federal bench.
Three additional sentences for members of the Quantiae Harris DTO were also announced by U.S. Attorney Parsons:
On June 15, 2026, Faily Chavez, 31, from California City, California, was sentenced by Judge Schreier to 24 years and four months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Chavez was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in October 2024. She pleaded guilty on March 24, 2026.
On June 22, 2026, Kyle Schryvers, 33, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange to 16 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty on March 17, 2026.
Also on June 22, 2026, Nicole Kritz, 48, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was sentenced by Chief Judge Lange to five years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. She pleaded guilty on March 16, 2026.
Chavez, Schryvers, and Kritz were all members of the Quantiae Harris DTO.
These sentences are the latest results from the systematic takedown of four major drug trafficking operations in South Dakota over the past year:
• Quantiae Harris DTO
• Juan Sertuche DTO
• Matthew Shade DTO
• Darrel Devorce DTO
By the Numbers
Combined results across just these four discrete prosecutions:
• Total defendants charged or convicted federally: 63 charged, 54 convictions to date
• Methamphetamine trafficked (combined estimates): More than 1,000 pounds
• Fentanyl pills trafficked (combined estimates): Tens of thousands
• Fentanyl powder: Multiple kilograms
• Money laundering proceeds traced: Several million dollars
• Federal prison sentences to date: More than 660 years
• Federal jury trials: Three to date (Quantiae Harris, Juan Sertuche, and Gregory Henderson convicted at trial)
Importantly, the prosecutions of the four drug trafficking organizations detailed in this report represent only a portion of the drug trafficking convictions and sentences secured by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota over the past year.
1. QUANTIAE HARRIS DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION
26-Defendant California- and Nevada-Based Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Conspiracy
Overview of the Organization
From late 2023 through September 2024, a California- and Nevada-based drug trafficking organization led by Quantiae Harris, age 49, of Las Vegas, Nevada, transported large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl from California to South Dakota for distribution in the Sioux Falls area. The organization is the first known to have introduced powder fentanyl to the Sioux Falls drug market—a development of grave public health and public safety concern given fentanyl’s extreme lethality even in microscopic amounts.
The organization initially shipped drugs through the U.S. Mail to addresses in Sioux Falls, where members would collect packages and distribute the contents to local sub-distributors. Operations were originally conducted out of local hotels, but eventually transitioned to short-term rental properties, including Airbnbs. Once the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began intercepting their packages, the organization shifted methods, using rental vehicles equipped with hidden compartments to drive narcotics from California to Sioux Falls.
Customers contacted members for brief meetups at public locations to purchase drugs, with payments made in cash or through electronic payment platforms such as Cash App. Bulk cash proceeds were transported back to California in rental vehicles, while large amounts of currency were also deposited in local banks into accounts belonging to Quantiae Harris. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation linked Harris to over $1.2 million in money laundering transactions related to the organization.
Scope of Trafficking (Conservative Estimates)
• More than 100 pounds of methamphetamine
• Tens of thousands of fentanyl pills (estimated 50,000)
• Approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl powder
• More than $1.2 million in money laundering transactions linked to the DTO leader
Indictments and Prosecutions
Four rounds of federal indictments charged a total of 26 defendants in connection with the Harris organization. Convictions for 22 of the 26 defendants have been secured so far. Harris, the DTO leader, was convicted following a four-day federal jury trial in Sioux Falls, returning a guilty verdict on every count on March 27, 2026. Currently, four remaining defendants are scheduled for trials. Regarding those four defendants, as with any pending criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation, and they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Quantiae Harris
Las Vegas, NV
Leader of the DTO
Convicted at trial on 3/27/26; sentenced on 6/24/26
400 months (33 years)
Stephonn Walton
Las Vegas, NV
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Dejuan Croom
Los Angeles, CA
Third in command; managerial role
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 4/6/26
280 months (over 23 years)
Alonzo Green
California City, CA
Fourth in command
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 1/5/26
240 months (20 years)
Faily Chavez
California City, CA
California-based source of supply
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/15/26
292 months (over 24 years)
Hailey Schneiderman
Sioux Falls, SD
Major local sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 8/4/25
192 months (16 years)
Amanda Acosta
Prairie Village, KS
Major sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 9/29/25
240 months (20 years)
Alysia Peneaux
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 4/13/26
120 months (10 years)
Rodney Rohrbach Jr.
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty on 4/6/26
Sentencing on 6/29/26
Rodney Rohrbach Sr.
Chamberlain, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 1/26/26
70 months (over 5 years)
Isaiah Croom
Los Angeles, CA
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 3/16/26
30 months (over 2 years)
Brett Berglund
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 11/17/25
135 months (over 11 years)
Brandy Christman
Aberdeen, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 9/29/25
6 months
Heather Downey
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 8/25/25
120 months (10 years)
Alexis Mertens
Slayton, MN
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 9/22/25
92 months (over 7 years)
Ashley Mortimer
Lennox, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 1/16/26
92 months (over 7 years)
Kenneth Johnson
Los Angeles, CA
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 11/24/25
159 months (over 13 years)
Jeffrey Skannal
Las Vegas, NV
Distributor
Pleaded guilty on 6/11/26
Sentencing on 8/31/26
Jordon Harris
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 11/17/25
87 months (over 7 years)
Morgan Mentele
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 4/20/26
30 months
Kyle Heinemann
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/8/26
120 months (10 years)
Kyle Schryvers
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/22/26
192 months (16 years)
Nicole Kritz
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/22/26
70 months (over 5 years)
Jordan Reese
Sioux Falls, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Allen Shropshire
Sioux Falls, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Joshua Weisser
Sioux Falls, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
—
Investigating Agencies
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force (SFADTF); Sioux Falls Police Department; South Dakota Highway Patrol; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Each of these cases has been prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Petersen handled the investigatory stage of some of the prosecutions.
2. JUAN SERTUCHE DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION
Two-Decade Cartel-Sourced Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Pipeline into Western South Dakota Shut Down
Overview of the Organization
Juan Sertuche, age 43, of Denver, Colorado, led a drug distribution conspiracy spanning more than two decades from approximately 2002 through September 2023. Sertuche was sourced by a Mexican cartel and brought between 30 and 50 pounds of methamphetamine into South Dakota every other week, providing hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills to multiple sub-distributors for further distribution in the Rapid City area and the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Investigators linked Sertuche to a traffic stop that uncovered 19 pounds of methamphetamine intended for distribution in western South Dakota. He was arrested in September 2023 after another traffic stop in Jackson County, where officers found approximately 1,500 fentanyl pills. Even after his arrest, Sertuche continued coordinating drug deals from custody and directed others to collect firearms to trade for drugs. Law enforcement recovered several weapons, including two fully automatic machine guns, before they could be exchanged.
Scope of Trafficking
• Hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine over the duration of the conspiracy
• Tens of thousands of fentanyl pills
• Source of supply traced to Mexican cartel
• Continued drug coordination and firearms trafficking after arrest
Indictments and Prosecutions
The investigation produced parallel federal and state prosecutions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the top tier of the organization, resulting in 10 convictions and federal prison sentences, while additional DTO members were prosecuted in state court.
Juan Sertuche
Denver, CO
Leader of the DTO; cartel-sourced supplier
Convicted at trial on 1/8/26; sentenced on 5/22/26
540 months (45 years)
Veronica Ortega
Box Elder, SD
Main local distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 7/11/25
292 months (over 24 years)
Shauntel Shangreaux
Pine Ridge, SD
Key lieutenant
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 4/6/26
230 months (over 19 years)
Paige Sierra
Rapid City, SD
Distributor; transportation assistance
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 7/11/25
140 months (over 11 years)
Jackie Corean
Black Hawk, SD
Distribution hub host, sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 9/2/25
135 months (over 11 years)
Jenna Lee Holzer
Box Elder, SD
Major sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 10/28/25
360 months (30 years)
Darin Wherley
Black Hawk, SD
Major sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 11/1/24
320 months (over 26 years)
Monique Merrival
Greeley, CO
Major sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 10/11/24
224 months (over 18 years)
Shelina Martinez
Denver, CO
Sub-distributor, courier
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 8/8/25
60 months (5 years)
Daniel Sandoval
Denver, CO
Sub-distributor, courier
Indictment dismissed when defendant died
—
Investigating Agencies
South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI); Pennington County Sheriff’s Office; Rapid City Police Department; South Dakota Highway Patrol; Wyoming State Highway Patrol; North Metro Denver Drug Task Force; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety (OSTDPS); and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
These cases were prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Petersen, Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Dilges, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges.
3. MATTHEW SHADE DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION
Arizona-Sourced Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Operation Trafficking 200 Pounds into Sioux Falls Area Dismantled
Overview of the Organization
Matthew Shade, age 34, of Tea, South Dakota, served as the local leader of a drug trafficking organization that obtained methamphetamine and fentanyl from sources in Mexico who then arranged for the drugs to cross the border and be delivered to co-conspirators in Arizona for distribution throughout the Sioux Falls area. The organization received drugs both through the U.S. Mail and through cross-country car deliveries by a supplier traveling from Arizona to South Dakota.
In December 2024, investigators seized a package containing over four pounds of methamphetamine. Postal Inspectors, working with the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force, also seized two parcels sent from Sioux Falls to Arizona that contained over $26,000 in cash, as well as a separate package bound for Sioux Falls containing 144 grams of fentanyl powder. After identifying that Shade’s supplier was traveling by car to South Dakota, investigators arranged for the South Dakota Highway Patrol to
conduct a traffic stop during which a trooper located approximately 26 pounds of methamphetamine and over 2,000 fentanyl pills concealed in the vehicle. At Shade’s residence in Tea, investigators found 80 grams of methamphetamine, 22 fentanyl pills, and other narcotics.
Scope of Trafficking
• Approximately 200 pounds of methamphetamine trafficked to the Sioux Falls area
• Significant quantities of fentanyl pills and fentanyl powder
• Multiple seizures of bulk cash being routed back to Arizona suppliers
Indictments and Prosecutions
To date, 13 defendants have been indicted in connection with the Shade organization, including Matthew Shade himself, nine South Dakota members operating beneath him, and two Arizona-based defendants representing the supply chain. Nine defendants have been convicted, with two of those defendants still awaiting sentencing; four additional defendants have pending trial dates. Regarding those four defendants, as with any pending criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation, and they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Matthew Shade
Tea, SD
Local leader of the DTO
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 5/4/26
260 months (over 21 years)
Sean David Blanchfill
Tea, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 3/2/26
202 months (over 16 years)
Damian Roy Webster
Glendale, AZ
Distributor, coordinator of shipments from AZ
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 8/18/25
168 months (14 years)
Alex Geoffrey Lang
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 12/1/25
160 months (over 13 years)
Carey Adam Ludens
Crooks, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 5/18/26
160 months (over 13 years)
Robert Duane Kent, Jr.
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 5/18/26
92 months (over 7 years)
Michael Lee Terveen
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 10/27/25
60 months (5 years)
Kourtney Leigh Lang
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty on 3/2/26
Sentencing on 7/6/26
Lorenzo Portillo
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty on 5/5/26
Sentencing on 8/24/26
John Stanford Roth
Phoenix, AZ
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Julia Diane Pewo
Sioux Falls, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Cory Wayne Nohava
Sioux Falls, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
Ryan Richard Tulio
Tea, SD
Alleged co-conspirator
Pleaded not guilty; pending trial
—
Investigating Agencies
Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force (SFADTF); Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office; South Dakota Highway Patrol; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges, Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie Larson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce.
4. DARREL DEVORCE DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION
Five-Year California-to-South Dakota Methamphetamine Pipeline Dismantled
Overview of the Organization
Darrel Devorce, age 57, of San Jacinto, California, ran a large methamphetamine trafficking organization for approximately five years, sourcing methamphetamine from California to co-conspirators in Sioux Falls beginning around 2018 and continuing into 2023. Devorce arranged for methamphetamine from California to be delivered to co-conspirators in South Dakota using various couriers and directed others to conduct financial transactions involving the proceeds using Cash App, Western Union, and Zelle. The money transfers were designed to conceal both the source of the proceeds and Devorce’s involvement in the conspiracy.
Scope of Trafficking
• Approximately 200 pounds of methamphetamine trafficked into South Dakota
• Over $700,000 laundered through the organization
• Five-year operational period (approximately 2018–2023)
Indictments and Prosecutions
The Devorce investigation has resulted in convictions and sentences of 14 defendants in federal court.
Darrel Devorce
San Jacinto, CA
Leader of the DTO
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 11/3/25
400 months (33 years)
Maurice Logan
Corona, CA
Distributor and transporter
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/9/25
132 months (11 years)
Katrina Marie Green
Sioux Falls, SD
Main local distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 12/18/23
128 months (over 10 years)
Janet Denise Mallet
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on11/27/23
120 months (10 years)
Frank Cortez Baker
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/2/25
132 months (11 years)
Tara Dionne Clayton
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 2/12/24
132 months (11 years)
Amber Louise Justus
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 7/29/24
168 months (14 years)
Gregory Henderson
Sioux Falls, SD
Money launderer
Convicted at trial on 12/4/25; sentenced on 3/16/26
60 months (5 years)
Billy Dickinson
Sioux Falls, SD
Sub-distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 5/15/23
34 months (over 2 years)
Gregory Lamar Bell
Sioux Falls, SD
Unlawful drug user in possession of firearm
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 8/19/24
57 months (over 4 years)
Kurtis Duke
Sioux Falls, SD
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/12/23
58 months (over 5 years)
Julia Precious Ballansaw
Decatur, GA
Distributor
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 6/3/24
70 months (over five years)
Destiny Canty
Riverside, CA
Money launderer
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 2/9/26
34 months (over 2 years)
Nicole Dorrough
San Jacinto, CA
Money launderer
Pleaded guilty; sentenced on 1/26/26
34 months (over two years)
—
Investigating Agencies
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force (SFADTF); South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
These cases were prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie Larson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Ebert-Webb.
Why This Matters
These four organizations represent fundamentally different models of drug trafficking: a long-running, cartel-sourced pipeline from Mexico through Colorado (Sertuche); a multi-year California-to-South Dakota methamphetamine operation (Devorce); a sophisticated, multi-method California- and Nevada-based operation that introduced powder fentanyl to Sioux Falls (Harris); and an Arizona-sourced operation moving narcotics into the Sioux Falls suburbs (Shade). Together they illustrate how out-of-state suppliers, usually with cartel ties, continue to target South Dakota communities, and how federal prosecutors and law enforcement partners are responding.
Fentanyl in particular poses a grave and growing threat. The Harris organization was the first known to introduce powder fentanyl to the Sioux Falls market, a substance lethal in microscopic amounts. The dismantling of these organizations and the substantial federal prison sentences obtained have meaningfully disrupted the flow of these drugs into South Dakota and saved lives.
These results, however, mark the beginning of a sustained effort, not the end of it. Additional defendants in these four prosecutions remain pending trial or pending sentencing. New investigations and new indictments are ongoing, and the work done in taking down these four drug trafficking organizations reflects only a portion of the total felony drug convictions secured by this office over the past year. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota intends to continue its aggressive use of federal prosecution against any drug trafficking organization that targets South Dakota communities, and to do so until the supply networks reaching into this State have been dismantled.
A Coordinated, Multi-Agency Effort
These prosecutions were the product of sophisticated, long-term investigations conducted by federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, many of which collaborate through long-standing drug task forces operating throughout South Dakota. The cases reflect the strength of the multi-agency model in which federal and state investigators, prosecutors, postal inspectors, financial crimes specialists, state troopers, tribal law enforcement, and local police and sheriff’s offices each contributed to building cases capable of holding the highest-level traffickers accountable.
Task Forces and Agencies Involved Across the Four Prosecutions
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
• U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP)
• Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs-Division of Drug Enforcement (BIA-DDE)
• South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI)
• South Dakota Highway Patrol (SDHP)
• Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force (SFADTF)
• Sioux Falls Police Department
• Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office
• Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET)
• Pennington County Sheriff’s Office
• Rapid City Police Department
• Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety (OSTDPS)
• North Metro Denver Drug Task Force
• Wyoming State Highway Patrol
Part of a National Strategy: South Dakota and the Nationwide Effort to Eradicate Cartels and Drug Trafficking
These four DTO takedowns are not isolated victories. They are part of the most comprehensive, whole-of-government campaign to dismantle drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations in modern American history. Beginning on his first day back in office, President Trump set in motion a sweeping series of executive actions, designations, task force structures, and policy directives intended to do what no prior administration has attempted at this scale: achieve the total elimination of the cartels and the eradication of illegal drug trafficking on American soil. To accomplish this directive, the United States government is utilizing every tool at its disposal: law enforcement, addiction treatment and counseling, border security, trade, the banking system, international diplomacy, and, where authorized, military action.
South Dakota’s prosecutions of the Harris, Devorce, Sertuche, and Shade organizations are an integral part of that national strategy. Each of these cases reaches back, ultimately, to out-of-state and often cartel-connected sources of supply. Each illustrates how the national framework set in Washington translates into convictions, prison sentences, and lives saved in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, the communities of the Pine Ridge Reservation, and across all of South Dakota.
We Are Only Getting Started
New indictments are being returned by federal grand juries on a routine basis. New investigations, including investigations targeting the out-of-state and cartel-connected suppliers above the local distribution networks already dismantled, are underway. Every prosecution that produces a cooperator opens a door to the next organization.
At the national level, the trajectory is the same. The Homeland Security Task Force model, the FTO designation regime, and the consolidated Operation Take Back America framework are all permanent fixtures of federal law enforcement. The Administration has made clear, repeatedly and at the highest level, that the goal is not the disruption of cartels and trafficking organizations, but their total elimination. That work will continue, in South Dakota and across the country, until that goal is achieved.
To the traffickers, distributors, money launderers, and out-of-state suppliers still operating in or targeting South Dakota: the message from this U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal, state, local, and tribal partners is direct. The cases described in this report are not the end of the work. They are the beginning. Anyone who continues to bring methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, or other deadly drugs into South Dakota communities should expect the same fate as the defendants identified above: federal indictment, federal conviction, and a substantial federal prison sentence.
About Operation Take Back America
Many of these prosecutions are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the U.S. Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Through PSN, the District of South Dakota seeks to bring together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
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