United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a St. Francis, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on Aug. 26, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Justin Covey, a/k/a Justin Night Shield, age 19, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Covey was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 11, 2018. He pled guilty on May 29, 2019.
The conviction stemmed from a drug conspiracy that occurred beginning no later than Oct. 15, 2018, and continuing to Nov. 2, 2018, in which Covey knowingly and intentionally conspired with his co-defendants to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, in the District of South Dakota. At the time of his arrest, law enforcement recovered 256 grams of methamphetamine, scales, baggies, and other drug trafficking items.
This case was investigated by the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force and Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted the case.
Covey was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
