Rushmore State News

A man from Kyle, South Dakota has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for his involvement in a drug distribution conspiracy on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell, with U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier issuing the sentence on September 19, 2025.

Nathan Tobacco-Clifford, age 49, received a sentence of five years and ten months in federal prison. He will also serve five years of supervised release following his incarceration and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Tobacco-Clifford was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024 for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and pleaded guilty on April 23, 2025.

According to court documents, Tobacco-Clifford’s conviction is related to methamphetamine distribution activities that took place both on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City. During the course of the conspiracy, he and several codefendants traveled from Pine Ridge Reservation to Greeley, Colorado to obtain methamphetamine from Misty Hornbeck, another codefendant. On one occasion, members of the group were arrested while attempting to bring methamphetamine into South Dakota from Colorado through Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Each participant reportedly sold methamphetamine partly to support their own drug use. Authorities estimate that between 500 grams and 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine were distributed as part of this operation.

The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force—a team including agents from the FBI, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, and Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

Tobacco-Clifford was remanded immediately into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.