Mexican Drug Kingpin Ubaldo Balderrama-Marquez Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy in South Dakota

United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell dropped a bombshell today as District Court Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced Ubaldo Balderrama-Marquez, a 59-year-old from Chihuahua, Mexico, to three years and one month in federal prison for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

The guilty plea came on April 11, 2025, after Balderrama-Marquez was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2006. The sentence was handed down on July 11, 2025, marking the culmination of a years-long investigation into a drug ring operating out of Denver, Colorado.

Ubaldo and his brothers, Jose, Miguel, and Rafael Balderrama-Marquez, were accused of selling massive quantities of cocaine and marijuana to Ken Walking Eagle, John Ladeaux, and others. The drugs were intended for distribution in South Dakota and on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

This case was a collaborative effort by the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force, which included agents from the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay led the prosecution.

Balderrama-Marquez was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and is now facing three years of supervised release upon his release from prison. He was immediately remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following the sentencing.

With this sentence, justice has been served for those affected by the Balderrama-Marquez drug ring’s activities on South Dakota soil.