United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and two counts of Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute was sentenced on December 14, 2020, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.
Daniel Gray Eagle, age 39, was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $300.
Gray Eagle was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 10, 2019. He was found guilty after a three-day federal jury trial on September 24, 2020.
The conspiracy conviction stemmed from a plot between January 1, 2017, and February 7, 2020, wherein Gray Eagle knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine in South Dakota. Gray Eagle routinely traveled to Rapid City to acquire large amounts of methamphetamine, which he distributed in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.
The first count of Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute arose from a high-speed car chase with law enforcement in the southwest corner of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation on January 22, 2018. During the chase, Gray Eagle instructed a passenger to throw a pill bottle containing 22 grams of methamphetamine out of the car. The methamphetamine was recovered, and Gray Eagle was taken into custody after crashing the car in a field. The second count arose from a foot pursuit and arrest of Gray Eagle on March 1, 2018, in Eagle Butte. After Gray Eagle was arrested on a tribal warrant, a search of his person revealed three baggies containing a small amount of methamphetamine in his pants pocket as well as a cell phone containing drug-related messages.
This case was investigated by the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force; the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services; the Rapid City Police Department; the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; the City of Faith Police Department; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Division of Drug Enforcement; and the South Dakota National Guard. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook prosecuted the case.
Gray Eagle was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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