Rapid City Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on November 25, 2024.

Jacob Denker, 41, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Denker was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance (fentanyl) by a federal grand jury in June 2024. He pleaded guilty on August 28, 2024.

Beginning around March 2023, Denker began obtaining fentanyl along with his girlfriend, Jamie Lee. They picked up fentanyl in Colorado and then brought it to South Dakota. In Rapid City, Denker and his girlfriend’s sub-distributors further distributed fentanyl throughout the Rapid City area and the Pine Ridge Reservation. This activity continued through September 2023. Overall, Denker and the other co-conspirators were responsible for bringing over 400 grams of fentanyl to the area. Co-defendant Eugene Giago is scheduled for trial on January 7, 2025, and co-defendant Jamie Lee is scheduled for sentencing on January 27, 2025.

This case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is comprised of agents from the FBI, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, Martin Police Department, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay prosecuted the case.

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