WATERTOWN, S.D. – A Florence, South Dakota man will spend more than three decades behind bars for flooding South Dakota communities with fentanyl. Heath Kelvin Hagen, 37, also known as “Rem,” has been sentenced to over 31 years in federal prison for distributing thousands of fentanyl pills throughout the Watertown and Sisseton areas from the fall of 2021 to the spring of 2022.
“This defendant was repeatedly identified as the biggest fentanyl dealer in the Watertown area, responsible for peddling thousands of lethal doses of fentanyl into our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell.
Hagen conspired with others to distribute 400 grams of a substance containing fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance. He sourced the pills from a co-conspirator in Minneapolis, reselling them to sub-dealers and customers across Watertown and Sisseton. During a search of his home, investigators uncovered 60 fentanyl pills hidden inside a fake tea can, but that was just a fraction of his operation. Authorities determined Hagen was responsible for distributing over 20,000 fentanyl pills in the region.
