United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a woman from Clark Lake, Michigan, has been sentenced for her involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler handed down the sentence on January 27, 2025.
Jamie Lee, aged 40, received a sentence of four years and nine months in federal prison. This will be followed by five years of supervised release. She was also fined $1,000 and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2024 and pleaded guilty on November 13, 2024.
The case details reveal that starting around March 2023, Lee and her boyfriend, Jacob Denker, began acquiring fentanyl in Colorado and transporting it to South Dakota. In Rapid City, they had sub-distributors who spread the drug throughout the area and the Pine Ridge Reservation until September 2023. The operation involved over 400 grams of fentanyl. Jacob Denker has already been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his role in the scheme. Another co-defendant, Eugene Giago, is set to go on trial on March 11, 2025.
The investigation was conducted by several agencies including the FBI, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay led the prosecution.
Following her sentencing, Lee was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.