Rapid City Woman Sentenced to 9 Years for Drug Conspiracy: 7,500 Fentanyl Pills and 2 Pounds of Meth Seized
A Rapid City, South Dakota, woman has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota announced on November 12 that U.S. District Judge Camela T. Theeler sentenced Nicole Catches on November 10.
Catches, 41, received nine years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2025 and pleaded guilty on May 18, 2026.
According to court documents, between July and September 2026 Catches was a member of a conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs in Rapid City. She traveled with co-conspirators to their source of supply in Colorado, where they obtained a variety of illegal drugs meant to be brought back and sold in South Dakota. In September 2026, officers stopped their vehicle on the return trip and found approximately 7,500 fentanyl pills, two pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl powder, heroin, cocaine, more than $6,000 in cash, and a stolen pistol.
The case, part of Operation Take Back America, was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET) and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case, and Catches was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼。联邦固定图库图。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters. Federal asset-pack photo.
