Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A man from Eagle Butte, South Dakota, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after being convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell and handed down by U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte on August 4, 2025.
Dion Michael Brown, 55, will serve a decade in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He must also pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and is required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Brown was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2023 and pleaded guilty on April 21, 2025. The offense occurred between May 1, 2020, and October 2, 2022, when Brown engaged in a sexual relationship with a victim who was between the ages of 13 and 15 at the time. The incidents took place in Eagle Butte within the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation.
The prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under the Major Crimes Act, which requires certain violent crimes occurring in Indian Country to be prosecuted federally rather than at the state level.
According to the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative—launched in 2006—federal, state, and local agencies coordinate efforts to address child sexual exploitation and abuse cases nationwide. More information about this initiative can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The investigation involved both the FBI and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Venhuizen prosecuted the case.
Brown was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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