Adam Michael Tanner Gets 12 Years for Meth Trafficking

A 47-year-old Sioux Falls man has been locked up for a dozen years after admitting his role in a brutal methamphetamine pipeline that flooded the Pierre and Ft. Pierre communities with over 1400 grams of crystal poison. Adam Michael Tanner was sentenced on August 10, 2020, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange in U.S. District Court, marking the end of a violent, gun-laced conspiracy that terrorized central South Dakota.

Tanner was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 10, 2019, and pleaded guilty on May 19, 2020, to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. Authorities revealed that throughout the conspiracy — which spanned from March 1, 2018, to September 10, 2019 — Tanner and his network operated with military precision, moving massive quantities of meth while armed and ready to shoot. Firearms were not an afterthought — they were standard equipment, carried routinely to guard drugs and cash.

The sentence: 144 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Tanner was also slapped with a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He was turned over immediately to the U.S. Marshals Service, disappearing into the federal system without a word.

“Drug trafficking is an inherently violent activity,” federal prosecutors emphasized. “Firearms are tools of the trade for drug dealers.” The message is clear: moving meth in South Dakota means bringing a gun — and drawing the full wrath of federal law enforcement. Tanner’s operation wasn’t some backroom hobby; it was a calculated, armed enterprise built on addiction and fear.

This case was a dual priority under two national crackdown initiatives: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Project Guardian. PSN, reinvigorated in 2017, targets violent criminals through coordinated federal, state, and local partnerships. Project Guardian, launched in fall 2019, focuses on gun crime enforcement, boosting intelligence sharing and prioritizing prosecutions of armed traffickers like Tanner.

Investigation was led by the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, with support from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Pierre Police Department, Stanley County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted, ensuring Tanner’s choices landed him exactly where violent drug traffickers belong — behind bars.