RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that United States District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced an Arizona man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on August 31, 2026.
Gaylen Holy Rock, 40, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Holy Rock was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in April 2025. He pleaded guilty on March 2, 2026.
Beginning in 2023, Holy Rock worked with others to distribute methamphetamine within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He received methamphetamine from co-conspirators in the Rapid City, South Dakota, area and was responsible for distributing over 500 grams of methamphetamine during his involvement in the conspiracy.
“Working together, law enforcement agencies across South Dakota are doing everything we can to eliminate the scourge of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “This defendant chose to victimize the communities of the Pine Ridge Reservation. He will now spend the next decade in federal prison, which should provide plenty of time to contemplate the wisdom of that decision.”
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The investigation was conducted by the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force. The Task Force is comprised of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay prosecuted the case.
Holy Rock was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — South Dakota — U.S. Department of Justice press release.