Rapid City Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death.

Curtis Cummings, age 39, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, restitution, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Cummings was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2023. He was found guilty following a three-day jury trial on November 7, 2024.

The conviction arose from a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl operating in Rapid City, South Dakota. Cummings and his wife, Katey McGruder, obtained large amounts of fentanyl from a source in Colorado on a weekly basis. They would bring the fentanyl back to their Rapid City home where it was further distributed by Christina Sanchez and other conspirators. On April 26, 2022, Cummings and McGruder provided fentanyl to Sanchez, who provided the fentanyl to Wyatt Nygaard. Nygaard then provided the fentanyl to the victim who overdosed and died in the parking lot of a convenience store within minutes of ingesting the fentanyl.

This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET). UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the South Dakota National Guard.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Dilges and Edward Tarbay prosecuted the case. Nygaard was previously sentenced to over 23 years in federal prison. McGruder and Sanchez were previously sentenced to 20 years each of federal imprisonment.

Cummings was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following his sentencing.