United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Phoenix, Arizona, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Obstructing Justice by Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim or Informant, was sentenced on July 5, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
William Stevenson, age 56, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Stevenson was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Obstructing Justice by Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim or Informant, by a federal grand jury on January 4, 2022. He was convicted by a jury on April 14, 2022.
Beginning on an unknown date, and continuing until on or about January 2021, Stevenson and others reached an agreement to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in the District of South Dakota and elsewhere. Stevenson and other co-conspirators brought eight kilograms of methamphetamine to South Dakota from Arizona to distribute. Stevenson and his co-conspirators were arrested on December 13, 2020, when they tried to sell methamphetamine to an undercover agent. While in jail after the arrest, Stevenson physically assaulted one of his co-conspirators in retaliation for the co-conspirator providing information to law enforcement.
Stevenson’s co-conspirators pled guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and have also been sentenced in this case. Edwin Donis-Melgar, age 36, of Guatemala, was sentenced on October 12, 2021, and Luis Hernandez Parra, age 35, of Mexico, was sentenced on October 14, 2021. Both Donis-Melgar and Hernandez Parra were sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Manuel Obregon-Robin, age 20, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was sentenced on February 28, 2022, to 37 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.
Stevenson was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.