Lower Brule Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting and Resisting a Tribal Corrections Officer

PIERRE - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a man from Lower Brule, South Dakota, convicted of Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer. The sentencing took place on October 9, 2025.

Leighton Laroche, Jr., age 42, was sentenced to five months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Laroche was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024. He pleaded guilty on July 9, 2025.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred on January 19, 2024, when Laroche was in custody at the Lower Brule Detention Center. Laroche engaged in a physical struggle with a Bureau of Indian Affairs correctional officer after he refused to return to his cell as directed.

This case was investigated by Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services - Lower Brule Agency.

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