Pine Ridge Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Role in Large-Scale Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in Rapid City Area and within the Pine Ridge Reservation

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a man from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on August 29, 2025.

Harrison Caldwell, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  The sentence was ordered to run consecutively to a 33-month sentence for a separate assault case.

Caldwell was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024 for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. He pleaded guilty on June 16, 2025.

The investigation showed that Caldwell and others distributed significant amounts of methamphetamine in Pine Ridge and Rapid City beginning around November 2023. The conspiracy was responsible for distributing nearly 100% pure methamphetamine that came from Mexican cartels. In sentencing Caldwell to ten years in prison, Judge Schreier noted that his involvement was less significant than other higher-ranking members of the conspiracy.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.

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