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Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on October 7, 2024.
Hermon Mehari Gebre, age 19, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Gebre was indicted by a federal grand jury in February of 2024. He pleaded guilty on July 15, 2024.
The conviction stemmed from incidents over the course of many months until February of 2024, when Gebre, knowingly combined, conspired, and agreed with others to distribute over 400 grams of pills containing fentanyl. Gebre obtained the fentanyl pills from a source on more than one occasion and distributed them to others in South Dakota. Gebre also sold approximately 76 pills to someone who, unbeknownst to Gebre, was working with law enforcement as a confidential informant. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Sisseton Wahpeton Law Enforcement Services, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.
Gegbre was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.