A transient man convicted of failure to register as a sex offender has been sentenced by a federal court judge in South Dakota.
55 year old Daniel James Cooper must spend 78 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Cooper was convicted in Minnesota in 1994 for criminal sexual conduct in the second degree. As a result, Cooper is required to register as a sex offender for life. Beginning in October 2020, Cooper moved from the location of his registration with the South Dakota Sex Offender Registry and knowingly failed to update his sex offender registration. He was arrested by law enforcement on February 16, 2021, at a residence, and had traveled between Codington County, South Dakota, and the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation between October 20, 2020, and February 16, 2021, evading law enforcement during that timeframe.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie Larson prosecuted the case.
It seems like a big waste of money to pay to lock up someone for six and one half years, than pay to supervise them for 5 more for not sending a check-in e-mail or letter to DOC on a 28 year old crime. South Dakota spends $100 million per year on incarceration. Plus more on supervision. For someone who has successfully registered for 27 plus years, and most probably committed no new crime (except for a routine registration) tax payers are being taken advantage of.
BTW Lake traverse reservation is partially within Codington county.