Lower Brule Woman Sentenced on Meth Trafficking Charges

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Lower Brule, South Dakota, woman convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on October 7, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.

Alisha Flute, age 21, was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.

Flute was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 11, 2018.  She pled guilty on May 14, 2019.

The conviction stemmed from a drug conspiracy that began at a time unknown, but no later than December 1, 2015, and continuing to November 14, 2018, where Flute knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, on the Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations in South Dakota. The methamphetamine was supplied by Frank “Tank” Adams from St. Paul, Minnesota. Adams was convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance at a federal jury trial in August and will be sentenced in November.

This case was investigated by the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs - Crow Creek Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs - Lower Brule Agency, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Pierre Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.

Flute was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.