SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A Sioux Falls man and woman were sentenced for embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal organization on Monday.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota, 46-year-old April Ferguson was sentenced to five months in federal prison and an additional five months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised release, restitution of $36,077 for the Ideal Lakota Community, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
41-year-old Steven Casto was sentenced to two years of probation, restitution of $5,922 for the Ideal Lakota Community, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Both Ferguson and Casto were indicted in March 2023 and pleaded guilty in March 2024. Both previously lived within a political subdivision of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Officials say Ferguson and Casto linked a CashApp account to the Ideal Lakota Community’s bank account and conducted a number of transactions not for the benefit of community members.
“Transactions included purchases from Amazon, Apple, Playstation Network, gas stations, restaurants, department stores, and grocery stores. Ferguson and Casto either directly benefited from the expenditures or allowed others to benefit from the funds rightfully belonging to the Ideal Lakota Community,” a news release from U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell said.
