United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on February 3, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken.
Michael “Texas” Cole, age 31, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Cole was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2020. He pleaded guilty on May 28, 2021. Defendant was stopped for driving a vehicle with a suspended license. During the stop, a drug-detection dog alerted to the presence of illegal narcotics in the vehicle and drug paraphernalia was located. Upon the arrest of the defendant fentanyl was discovered in his shoes, which he intended to distribute to others.
This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota National Guard, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.
Cole was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.