Yankton Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Federal Prison for Selling Fentanyl Resulting in the Death of a Young Woman

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that on January 26, 2026, Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a man from Yankton, South Dakota, convicted of Distribution of a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death.

Evan Nelson, 20, was indicted for Distribution of a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death by a federal grand jury in August 2024. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $8,860.66 in restitution to the victim's family.

On December 22, 2023, Nelson sold several fentanyl pills to the victim, a 15-year-old female from Vermillion. She took one of the pills and suffered a fatal overdose from fentanyl toxicity. The next morning, her mother found her deceased in her bedroom in the family home. Text messages on the victim's phone showed she arranged to purchase the pills from Nelson at a gas station near Gayville. Investigators later learned Nelson had purchased the pills from co-defendant Udda Kobaba several days earlier in Sioux Falls. Kobaba was previously sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his role in the case.

"I grieve for the lost and unfinished life of the fifteen-year-old victim in this case," said U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons. "Illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids trafficked from Mexico and China first hit the streets of Sioux Falls in 2018. Although progress has been made, they remain one of the leading causes of misery and death in our state, especially among young people. But let me say this clearly: I have hope. The United States is deploying every tool and using every pressure point it has to achieve the goal of the total elimination of drug cartels. This prison sentence and the convictions and ongoing investigations of others involved in the trafficking chain are part of that national effort. If you are a drug dealer, get out while you can. Because when it comes to determination, effort, and the deployment of federal resources, I can promise you that we have only just begun."

"As parents, we want to protect our children from the harmful things in this world," DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin Gillespie said. "And yet, today a family is mourning the loss of a 15-year-old girl, while the young man who sold her fentanyl now faces 22 years in federal prison. Let this story sink in and let it be the catalyst that moves you to talk with your own family about the dangers of fentanyl and other drugs. The DEA will continue working with our federal, state and local partners to remove this threat, but we need your help to raise awareness to this potentially lethal substance."

This case was investigated by the Vermillion Police Department, the Yankton Police Department, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sioux Falls Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce prosecuted the case.

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