Crooks Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Hundreds of Pounds of Methamphetamine in Sioux Falls Area

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Crooks, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on May 18, 2026.

Cary Ludens, 50, was sentenced to 13 years and 3 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Ludens was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in February 2025. He pleaded guilty on March 2, 2026.

Ludens was involved in a drug trafficking organization that obtained methamphetamine from Arizona and distributed those drugs throughout South Dakota. The group trafficked the drugs both through the U.S. Mail and via cross-country car trips. Investigators became aware of the group and seized a methamphetamine-laden package that contained over four pounds of methamphetamine in December 2024. Investigators later seized two parcels sent from Sioux Falls to Arizona that contained a combined total of approximately $26,000. Ludens' role in the conspiracy was as a distributor who obtained methamphetamine from a co-conspirator in South Dakota and then distributed it to others. Investigators determined that Ludens was responsible for distributing approximately 22 pounds of methamphetamine during his involvement in the conspiracy.

This case was investigated by the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force and the United States Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.

Ludens was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.