Eagle Butte Woman Indicted on Methamphetamine Charges

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Concealing a Person from Arrest.

Braxtyn Melecca Jo Garreau, age 21, was indicted on April 12, 2017. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on April 21, 2017, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance is up to 20 years in custody and/or a $1,000,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. The maximum penalty upon conviction for Concealing a Person from Arrest is up to 5 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release. Both charges require a payment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that between January of 2014 and April of 2017, Garreau knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled Substance, within the district of South Dakota. The Indictment also alleges that Garreau possessed methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it on February 23, 2017, in Eagle Butte. The Indictment further alleges that between November 22, 2016 and February 6, 2017, Garreau harbored and concealed Emmett Traversie, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest on an alleged bond violation.

The charges are merely accusations and Garreau is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services Narcotics Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney SaraBeth Donovan is prosecuting the case.

Garreau was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.

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