United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Kyle, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on August 31, 2022, by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Severt Shon Young Bear, III, a/k/a Yamni Young Bear, age 40, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Young Bear was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in February of 2021, and pleaded guilty in March of 2022. The conviction stems from Young Bear conspiring with at least five other persons to distribute methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, in South Dakota between November 2015 and February 2021.
The case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force, which includes the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation, and the Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Sazama prosecuted the case.
Young Bear was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
