Department of Justice

Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, woman who pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on June 4, 2021, by U.S. District Court Judge Karen E. Schreier.  

Sara Skinner, age 34, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. 

From approximately July 2019 to late December 2019, methamphetamine was brought to South Dakota from Nevada by others. Skinner then dispersed the methamphetamine to others for use or additional distribution.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), Drug Enforcement Agency, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the South Dakota National Guard.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case. 

Skinner was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.