Two Eagle Butte residents are headed down the justice pipeline after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Perry Crow, Jr., a/k/a Perry Fiddler, 23, and Estrella Fernandez, a/k/a Star Fernandez, 21, were sentenced in federal court for their roles in two drug deals that took place in August 2016—transactions that fed the deadly crystal tide choking rural reservations.
Crow was handed 4 months in federal custody, followed by 4 months of home confinement, 3 years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange imposed the sentence on January 2, 2018. Immediately after sentencing, Crow was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service, vanishing into the steel-and-concrete machine of federal incarceration.
Fernandez, sentenced on February 5, 2018, caught slightly better terms—time served, 6 months of home confinement, 3 years of supervised release, a $500 fine, and the same $100 assessment. But make no mistake: both walked into court as convicted felons, their names now stitched into the federal docket of drug offenders undermining tribal safety.
The charges stem from two controlled buys on August 23 and August 31, 2016, when Crow and Fernandez knowingly and intentionally passed methamphetamine—a Schedule II controlled substance—on the reservation. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services ran the investigation, working under the shadow of a drug crisis that has devastated families and overwhelmed local resources.
Indicted by a federal grand jury on July 11, 2017, Crow pleaded guilty on October 17, 2017. Fernandez followed with her own guilty plea on November 15, 2017. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted the case, pushing for accountability in a region where federal and tribal jurisdictions tangle like barbed wire.
This case is a snapshot of the broader opioid and meth epidemic gnawing at Indian Country. While the sentences may seem light, they reflect the grinding reality of plea bargains and overburdened courts. But every charge filed, every fine levied, is a signal: the feds are watching. And in Eagle Butte, the cost of dealing poison just went up.
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Key Facts
- State: South Dakota
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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