Four Pine Ridge Men Sentenced for Cocaine Conspiracy
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 17, 2010 |
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that four Pine Ridge men charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance were sentenced to the following on June 16, 2010, by U.S. District Court Judge Karen E. Schreier:
- Guy Yellow Boy (age 40), 37 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, $100 Victims’ Assessment Fund;
- Bervin Brings Plenty (age 40), 57 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, $100 Victims’ Assessment Fund;
- Matt Tobacco (age 22), 41 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, $100 Victims’ Assessment Fund:
- Merril Catches (age 39), 60 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release; $100 Victims’ Assessment Fund
The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury on August 25, 2009. Between 2001 and 2009, at varying times, they all aided in a conspiracy to obtain cocaine in Denver and resell it on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Brings Plenty, Catches, Tobacco, and Yellow Boy all pled guilty on March 2, 2010. A fifth man involved in the conspiracy, Will Tymes, also pled guilty on March 2, 2010, and will be sentenced on June 17, 2010. This case was investigated by the FBI, ATF, OST, and BIA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Vargo prosecuted the case. Brings Plenty, Yellow Boy and Tobacco were immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshal; Catches was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshal’s Service by August 3, 2010, for implementation of his sentence.
