PIERRE - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Murdo, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on September 28, 2026. Tyree Yellow Elk, age 31, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Yellow Elk was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2026. He pleaded guilty on June 29, 2026.
In 2017, Yellow Elk was convicted in U.S. District Court of Possession of Child Pornography and sentenced to seven years in federal prison. In October 2025, he was on federal supervised release and residing in Murdo. On October 9, 2025, law enforcement searched Yellow Elk’s residence and seized a mobile device that contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.
Yellow Elk was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.