Pine Ridge Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Methamphetamine within the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Pine Ridge, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on May 6, 2025.

Phil Pond, age 42, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

A federal grand jury indicted Pond in January 2024. He pleaded guilty on July 29, 2024.

From 2022 to 2024, Pond and others conspired to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine in South Dakota. Some of the co-conspirators traveled to the Denver area, and/or acquired the methamphetamine locally from Pine Ridge and Rapid City. Pond knew some of this methamphetamine he was selling would be further distributed. Evidence presented at Pond's sentencing established that he acted as the enforcer and used intimidation, force, and threats of violence against others to acquire money to satisfy their drug debts. Pond was a leader and organizer of the conspiracy and also provided methamphetamine to a person under the age of 21.

This case was investigated by the FBI and 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 Megan Poppen and Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.

Pond was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.