FARGO (KFGO) – The final defendant was sentenced Friday morning in federal court as part of “Operation Blue Prairie,” a years-long organized-crime and drug investigation into the multi-state trafficking of oxycodone targeting three of North Dakota’s Indian Reservations.
Judge Daniel Hovland sentenced Baquan Sledge of Detroit, Michigan to 30 years in federal prison, mirroring a sentence he handed down last week to Darius Sledge, Baquan’s cousin and co-lead defendant in the case. Both men were found guilty by a jury last June on multiple counts of running a criminal enterprise, money laundering, and conspiracy for their leadership in the drug trafficking organization.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider says he hopes the sentences help dissuade drug traffickers of the notion that they can target the state’s more vulnerable communities.
“This sentence is a warning to anyone targeting our tribal communities for the distribution of dangerous drugs: You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will serve a long sentence in federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider. “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to continuing our partnership with federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement to promote public safety in Indian country and across North Dakota.”
The multi-agency investigation led by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement revealed the Sledge defendants and their co-conspirators targeted areas with fewer law enforcement resources where they could distribute the drugs at a premium price. The Sledges used local residences and people for distribution and stash houses to further their criminal activities for monetary gain. In total, twenty-six defendants were charged in the case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dawn Deitz and Lori Conroy with the assistance of lead investigator Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement Special Agent Isaiah Soldier.
