Lake Andes Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Lake Andes, South Dakota, man convicted of three separate rapes by a federal trial jury was sentenced on November 21, 2011. Chief U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced James Bruguier, a/k/a James Bruguier, Jr., to 360 months in custody (30 years) without parole after being convicted of several felonies during the August 2011 trial.

Bruguier, 25, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, and first-degree burglary for separate sexual assaults on an adult and two teenagers from the Yankton reservation. The testimony at trial revealed that two of the sexual attacks perpetrated by Bruguier occurred in the homes of the victims. Bruguier was originally indicted in February 2011 by a federal grand jury, and then re-indicted as more victims were discovered. The trial testimony revealed separate acts of sexual abuse on separate victims in 2004-2005, 2010, and 2011.

This case was investigated by the FBI and Yankton Sioux Tribal Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Wright prosecuted the case.

Bruguier, who has been held without bail since his federal arrest, was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.