United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that an Overland Park, Kansas, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on Aug. 29, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Sylvester Mitchell, III, age 31, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Mitchell was indicted for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance by a federal grand jury in September of 2021. He pleaded guilty on June 7, 2022.
Beginning on an unknown date and continuing until on or about December 2021, Mitchell reached an agreement to distribute fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, in the District of South Dakota.
During his involvement, Mitchell obtained pills containing fentanyl from a co-conspirator and distributed them to drug customers in South Dakota. On July 27, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at an apartment where Mitchell was staying. When the officers searched the apartment, they found approximately 73 grams of blue M-30 pills that were later tested and found to contain fentanyl. Mitchell posted bail after that arrest and was released. As Mitchell was leaving Sioux Falls, a South Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper followed him. Mitchell pulled off the interstate and abandoned a safe at a business near the exit of the interstate. The trooper eventually found the safe and discovered approximately 454 grams of pills containing fentanyl inside of it. Through Mitchell’s involvement in the conspiracy, he personally distributed over 400 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.
This case was investigated by the Sioux Falls Police Department, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Petersen prosecuted the case.
Mitchell was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
