Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine was sentenced on January 27, 2020, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.

Marques Smith, a/k/a CC, age 37, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.

Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 12, 2019, and a Superseding Indictment was filed on October 16, 2019.  He was found guilty after a three-day jury trial commencing on October 22, 2019.

The conviction stemmed from a conspiracy beginning around January 1, 2011, and continuing to October 11, 2017.  Smith knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine in South Dakota.  The trial testimony showed the conspiracy involved distributing methamphetamine in Sioux Falls and on the Crow Creek, Lower Brule, and Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservations.  Smith and his co-conspirators traveled to Kansas City, Missouri; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Grand Island, Nebraska, to acquire methamphetamine, which would be distributed in South Dakota.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Drug Enforcement, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sherriff’s Office, Pierre Police Department, and the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook prosecuted the case.

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