A man from Eagle Butte was sentenced in federal court after being convicted of threatening a federal official.
Joseph Lafferty, 68, was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Lafferty was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2025 and was convicted following a jury trial in January 2026. Evidence at trial showed that on July 21, 2025, Lafferty threatened to get his gun and kill an Indian Health Service employee. The threat was made in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Venhuizen prosecuted the case.
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