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Crime & Courts

Two Men Sentenced in Separate South Dakota Drug Cases

Lorenzo Rene Portillo and Shaun Mitchell received federal prison terms in cases involving methamphetamine and fentanyl.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 26, 2026, 12:18 p.m. ETWritten Aug 26, 2026, 12:55 p.m. ET
Developing · checked 2h ago

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 26, 2026, 1:08 p.m. ET — checked 2h ago.

Two men have been in separate drug cases in the District of South Dakota, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Lorenzo Rene Portillo, 37, of Sioux Falls, was to between 13 years and 4 months and 13 years and 5 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, according to conflicting reports from dakotanewsnow.com. Portillo was charged with distributing methamphetamine, illegally possessing a handgun, and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Reports conflict on the details of the alleged conduct: one report says Portillo was a member of a conspiracy distributing more than 500 grams of meth in Sioux Falls between September 2024 and February 2025, and was prohibited from possessing a handgun due to multiple felony convictions; another report says Mitchell worked with a co-conspirator to obtain large quantities of fentanyl pills from Denver and sell them in the Sioux Falls area. Shaun Mitchell, 38, of Luverne, Minnesota, was also in a related case, according to dakotanewsnow.com. The reports do not specify Mitchell's sentence or charges. The cases were investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Sioux Falls Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force, and South Dakota Highway Patrol.

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  1. Version 126 Aug 2026, 16:55current

    First published.

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