RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court says a Pennington County deputy violated the Fourth Amendment when he seized empty drug vials from a paramedic based on nothing more than a hunch that they might be illegal.
The ruling means that federal prosecutors in Rapid City can’t use the vials as evidence in their case against Dane Arredondo, a former Oglala Sioux Tribe ambulance service worker.
The vials were labeled as containing two painkillers, fentanyl and ketamine.
Arredondo has pleaded not guilty to health care fraud, acquiring controlled substances by fraud and possession of controlled substances.
Prosecutors allege Arredondo took the drugs from his workplace in January 2019.
