Manderson Man Sentenced to Over Four Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Methamphetamine in the Pine Ridge Reservation

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Manderson, South Dakota, man, convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

Tyler Laforge, age 45, was sentenced on October 31, 2024, to four years and nine months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Laforge was indicted by a federal grand jury in June of 2023, and pleaded guilty on June 24, 2024.

His conviction stemmed from his involvement in a large-scale methamphetamine distribution operation in Rapid City, South Dakota, and in the Pine Ridge Reservation. During this conspiracy Richard Glover and his significant other, Teresa Goodroad, were the source of supply for Mark Bond and Todd Pape in South Dakota. Bond and Pape would make trips to Colorado to pick up pounds of methamphetamine from Goodroad and Glover. Other times Goodroad and Glover would deliver the drugs to Bond and Pape in South Dakota. Once the drugs were in South Dakota they would be distributed by various individuals in the Pine Ridge Reservation, including Laforge, Marlena Pond, Chris Janis, Tessie Laforge, and others. Between 15 and 45 kilograms of methamphetamine were distributed during the course of this criminal enterprise.

Glover, Goodroad, Bond, Pape, Pond, Janis, and Tessie Laforge were sentenced earlier this summer to federal prison as follows:

• Bond received a sentence of 26 years and eight months in federal prison
• Pape received a sentence of 25 years in federal prison
• Glover received a sentence of 17 years and six months in federal prison
• Goodroad received a sentence of 17 years and six months in federal prison
• Pond received a sentence of six years in federal prison
• Janis received a sentence of six years in prison
• Tessie Laforge received a sentence of two years and six months in prison.

This case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is comprised of agents from the FBI, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, Martin Police Department, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan N. Dilges and Edward Tarbay prosecuted the case.

Laforge was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following his sentencing.