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 Pine Ridge man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a large-scale methamphetamine distribution conspiracy operating in the Rapid City area and on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell, following a hearing before U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on August 29, 2025.
Harrison Caldwell, 31, received the prison sentence along with five years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. The court ordered that this sentence be served consecutively to a separate 33-month sentence Caldwell is serving for an assault conviction.
Caldwell was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance on June 16, 2025. According to investigators, Caldwell and others were involved in distributing nearly pure methamphetamine sourced from Mexican cartels starting around November 2023. Authorities said the conspiracy supplied significant quantities of methamphetamine within Pine Ridge and Rapid City.
Judge Schreier noted during sentencing that Caldwell's involvement was less significant than that of higher-ranking members of the conspiracy.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.
Following sentencing, Caldwell was remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
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