Pine Ridge Woman Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine 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 woman from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on August 29, 2025.

Kadell Richard, 31, was sentenced to two years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Richard was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024 for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. She pleaded guilty on June 9, 2025.

Between October 2023 and April 2024, Richard and others were involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in South Dakota and within the Pine Ridge Reservation. Richard assisted her co-conspirators in arranging narcotics transactions and finding end-users to whom her co-conspirators could sell methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force (BSTTF). BSTTF is a joint-agency taskforce comprised of law enforcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations, Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay prosecuted the case.

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