Attorney General announces indictments of four inmates, two former DOC staffers
Charges related to assault, possession of illegal items in prison
A Minnehaha County grand jury has indicted charges against 6 people - including two former employees of the Department of Corrections (DOC) and four inmates.
Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the charges Wednesday, all aimed at conduct between December 2023 and May 2024.
Two of the charges - both against inmates within the South Dakota correction system - are related to possession of illegal drugs. Tyler Dane Larvie, 28, is charged with nine counts of illegal possession of synthetic marijuana. A former nurse with DOC, Alexis Rose Hiller, 27, faces one felony count of three felonies related to illegal possession of buprenorphine - a synthetic opioid painkiller - with intent to distribute the substance to an inmate.
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The remaining charges are related to attempts to commit acts of violence and possession of weapons. A press release from the Attorney General’s office says that former DOC medication aide Madyson Alexis Bixby conspired with two prisoners to destroy a vehicle. That act of arson occurred in Sioux Falls on January 4.
Bixby faces two felony charges - one related to arson and another for giving a cellphone to inmates.
“Assaults on prison staff, possession of weapons and contraband, and destruction of property in our prison will not be tolerated,” Jackley wrote. “This conduct endangered prison staff and inmates and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The charges are the latest faced by South Dakota inmates just this year. Jackley is currently pursuing criminal charges against 11 inmates for their roles in riots at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in March. A spokesman for the office told The Dakota Scout that the office is also still investigating fights that broke out at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield earlier this month, and that charges could be coming for that incident.
Read the full list of charges against six DOC affiliated individuals below:
Case One: Prison Inmate Tyler Dane Larvie, 28, nine felony counts of Possession of an Article Indulgence (synthetic cannabinoids). The charges occurred on or about Jan. 24, 2024.
Case Two: Inmate Tyler Dane Larvie, 28, one felony count of Criminal Solicitation, one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson, and one felony count of Aiding and Abetting Second Degree Arson.
Former DOC Medication Aide Madyson Alexis Bixby, 21, Sioux Falls, one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson and one felony count of Possession of an Unauthorized Article (a cellphone delivered to an inmate).
Merced Patlan, 30, Sioux Falls, (not a DOC staff member) one felony count of Second Degree Arson and one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Arson.
Larvie and Bixby are charged with conspiring with Patlan to destroy another person’s vehicle. The crimes occurred between Dec. 1, 2023 and Jan. 4, 2024. The actual arson occurred on Jan. 4, 2024 in Sioux Falls.
Case Three: Former DOC nurse Alexis Rose Hiller, 27, Sioux Falls, charged with one felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Buprenorphine) with Intent to Distribute, one felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Buprenorphine), and one felony count of Possession of Unauthorized Article (Buprenorphine) With Intent to Deliver to An Inmate. The charges occurred on or near Jan. 31, 2024.
Case Four: Prison Inmate Seth Thomas Peplinski, 24, charged with one felony count of Aggravated Assault, and one felony count of Simple Assault. He is accused of assaulting another person in the prison on May 6, 2024.
Case Five: Prison Inmate Kelly Michael Irby, 64, Possession of a Weapon by an Inmate (blade). The charges occurred on or about May 8, 2024.
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Who has controlled this State for the last 40 years. the Modern GOP. So if someone is responsible it is the Modern GOP.