Highway superintendent sentenced for embezzlement

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former Minnehaha County highway superintendent has been sentenced to 180 days in jail for embezzlement, with 80 days of that sentence suspended. Forty-one-year-old Duane Buthe earlier pleaded guilty to embezzling about $127,000 from the county and the South Dakota Association of County Highway Superintendents. A judge Thursday (March 17, 2022) suspended a 10-year prison sentence, noting Buthe had already made restitution. The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation began looking into some funds missing from the state association of superintendents last year. Buthe had served as the association’s secretary since 2013.