Spearfish Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Spearfish, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on March 29, 2024.

Erasmo Briseno, 32, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Briseno was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in September of 2022. He pleaded guilty on March 29, 2024.

Beginning in September of 2020 and continuing until his arrest in October of 2022, Briseno and five other co-conspirators knowingly conspired and agreed with each other to intentionally distribute cocaine. The conspiracy reached from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Spearfish, South Dakota. Cocaine was shipped through the U.S. Postal Service to South Dakota for the purposes of sale and distribution in South Dakota. 

The Spearfish Police Department and the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted the investigation of the conspiracy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Murphy prosecuted the case.

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