Mobridge Meth Dealer Gets 10 Years

PIERRE, SD – Eric Traversie, 28, of Mobridge, South Dakota, is headed to federal prison for a decade. U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte handed down the sentence on August 5, 2025, after Traversie pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

The sentence isn’t just about time served. Traversie will also spend five years under supervised release after his ten-year stint, and he’s on the hook for a $100 payment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. The feds came down hard, and rightly so.

Federal investigators say Traversie was part of a drug ring operating between April 2024 and February 2025, flooding central South Dakota – including the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation – with methamphetamine. The scope of the operation was significant; Traversie was involved in moving between 1.5 and 5 kilograms of the stuff. It wasn’t just wholesale either. A traffic stop revealed he was personally carrying 237 grams of 99% pure meth, seized by law enforcement.

Traversie was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2025 and entered his guilty plea on April 30, 2025. This bust is part of “Operation Take Back America,” a broad-stroke initiative from the Department of Justice aimed at dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations. The operation pools resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood, signaling a clear intent to escalate the war on drugs.

The investigation was a multi-agency effort, bringing together the FBI, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Dewey County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Dilges led the prosecution, building a solid case that clearly demonstrated Traversie’s role in the conspiracy.

Following the sentencing, Traversie was immediately taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service. Ten years is a long time, but it’s a small price to pay for poisoning a community. This case sends a message: move meth in South Dakota, and you will face serious consequences.