Source: Office of United States Attorneys
PIERRE – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, woman convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on May 15, 2025.
Jamie Cavanaugh, age 41, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Cavanaugh was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2023. She pleaded guilty on January 16, 2025.
The conviction stemmed from a drug conspiracy beginning in January 2021 and continuing until December 2022. Cavanaugh was involved in a conspiracy with several other individuals to distribute methamphetamine in and around the central South Dakota area, including in Pierre and within the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. As part of the conspiracy, Cavanaugh was involved in distributing 3.5 kilograms of methamphetamine.
This case was investigated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, the Pierre Police Department, and the FBI Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Dilges prosecuted the case.
Cavanaugh was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.