Minnesota Man Sentenced in South Dakota Drug Conspiracy

DOJ Press

SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that a Minneapolis, Minnesota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on November 21, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.

Philavanh Soukhanouvong, a/k/a “Joe,” 46, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Soukhanouvong was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in October of 2021. He pleaded guilty on August 30, 2022.

Beginning at an unknown date and continuing to on or about October of 2021, in the District of South Dakota and elsewhere, Soukhanouvong, a/k/a “Joe,” knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with others known and unknown, to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, in the Sioux Falls area. The methamphetamine involved in this conspiracy was being sourced in Mexico and Soukhanouvong was receiving it in multiple-pound quantities. 


This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.


Soukhanouvong was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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