Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that District Court Judge Camela C. Theeler sentenced a Belle Fourche man for conspiracy to commit money laundering. The sentencing occurred on July 14, 2025.
Turner Heinbaugh, aged 35, received a sentence of 12 years and seven months in federal prison. This will be followed by three years of supervised release, along with a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Heinbaugh was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024 and pleaded guilty on April 22, 2025. The funds he laundered were derived from a methamphetamine operation in the Black Hills. He collaborated with others to collect drug proceeds and transferred these through electronic payments to co-conspirators in the United States and Mexico. Investigators estimate that Heinbaugh was responsible for transferring around $98,000 in drug proceeds through financial institutions and was involved in selling methamphetamine during this conspiracy.
The case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), established in 1982 to combat transnational organized crime and reduce illicit narcotics availability using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach. OCDETF combines resources and expertise from various partners for concentrated investigations into transnational organized crime, money laundering, and major drug trafficking networks.
The investigation involved the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), and the Drug Enforcement Administration. UNET includes law enforcement personnel from several South Dakota agencies including Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and South Dakota National Guard. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Hodges and Paige Petersen prosecuted the case.
Heinbaugh has been remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
