PINE RIDGE, S.D. – A federal judge noted links to Mexican cartels while sentencing a 29-year-old Pine Ridge woman for her role in a methamphetamine conspiracy in South Dakota.
U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier sentenced Stella Caldwell to two years and seven months in federal prison for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. Schreier pointed out that the methamphetamine Caldwell helped distribute was 100% pure and sourced from Mexican cartels.
Caldwell played a supervisory role in the operation, coordinating the movement of meth from co-conspirators to other distributors in Pine Ridge and Rapid City.
As Emily’s Hope also reported this week, a Mexican national, Reynaldo Garcia-Gonzalez, 42, received more than 22 years in federal prison for a separate major meth distribution case. Authorities say Garcia-Gonzalez transported large quantities of meth from California to co-conspirators in western South Dakota, who then distributed it further.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials continue to raise alarms about drug trafficking in the region. Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead recently spoke in support of a bill targeting fentanyl dealers in South Dakota, emphasizing that most fentanyl in the state originates from criminal organizations in China and Mexico. In 2023 alone, the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force seized more than 5,100 grams of fentanyl—a record-breaking amount.
