Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Michigan woman has been sentenced for her role 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 prison term of four years and nine months. Following her release, she will be subject to five years of supervised release. Additionally, she was fined $1,000 and must pay a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Lee's legal troubles began when she was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2024. She entered a guilty plea on November 13, 2024.
The case details reveal that starting around March 2023, Lee and her boyfriend Jacob Denker obtained fentanyl from Colorado and transported it to South Dakota. In Rapid City, they used sub-distributors to spread the drug throughout the area and the Pine Ridge Reservation until September 2023. Their operation brought over 400 grams of fentanyl into these communities. Denker has already been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his involvement. Another co-defendant, Eugene Giago, is set to go on trial on March 11, 2025.
The investigation involved 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.
