A man from Lower Brule, South Dakota, has been sentenced to federal prison for assaulting and resisting a tribal corrections officer. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte sentenced Leighton Laroche, Jr., 42, to five months in federal prison. Following his release, Laroche will serve two years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Laroche was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024 and pleaded guilty on July 9, 2025. The charges stem from an incident on January 19, 2024, at the Lower Brule Detention Center where Laroche engaged in a physical struggle with a Bureau of Indian Affairs correctional officer after refusing to return to his cell as directed.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services – Lower Brule Agency.
Laroche was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
