Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell has confirmed that Patricia Rae Pacheco, a 35-year-old woman from Denver, Colorado, was sentenced for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The sentencing was delivered by U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte on April 14, 2025, resulting in an 11-year federal prison term for Pacheco. Following her imprisonment, Pacheco will serve five years of supervised release and has been fined $1,000. She must also pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Pacheco's indictment for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance was handed down by a federal grand jury in August 2020. She entered a guilty plea on January 15, 2025. According to court records, between January 1, 2015, and January 1, 2020, Pacheco collaborated with multiple individuals to distribute methamphetamine sourced from Colorado into South Dakota, targeting her family members and other individuals on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.
Several agencies were involved in the investigation of this case, including the FBI, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, and the Valentine Police Department in Nebraska.
Following the sentence, Pacheco was placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
