Update, Sept. 25: After publication, Intellectual Dissatisfaction obtained an additional 2016 Clay County court record providing more detail about Samudzi’s misdemeanor ingestion conviction. The probable-cause affidavit states that the charge stemmed from marijuana use during a traffic stop. The relevant section below has been updated.
South Dakota court records obtained by Intellectual Dissatisfaction conflict with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s public description of Nate Samudzi’s criminal history.
In a statement provided to KTIV following Samudzi’s detention this week, ICE said the longtime South Dakota resident “has a conviction for drug possession and distribution.”
But a statewide criminal-record search conducted through the South Dakota Unified Judicial System shows something different.
The report lists one drug-related conviction: Samudzi pleaded guilty on Oct. 25, 2016, to ingesting an intoxicant other than an alcoholic beverage, a Class 1 misdemeanor under SDCL 22-42-15.
Additional Clay County records obtained by Intellectual Dissatisfaction provide more context for that conviction.
In a 2016 affidavit of probable cause, a Clay County officer wrote that he detected the odor of marijuana during a traffic stop and asked Samudzi whether he had used marijuana. According to the affidavit, Samudzi said he had. The officer then arrested him for ingestion under SDCL 22-42-15 and collected a urine sample after Samudzi consented.
The affidavit therefore shows that Samudzi’s misdemeanor ingestion conviction stemmed from marijuana use. It does not allege that he possessed or distributed marijuana in that case.
A separate Clay County case involved a substantially more serious allegation.
In February 2015, Samudzi was charged with distribution or possession with intent to distribute one ounce or less of marijuana, a Class 6 felony.
However, the statewide court record shows Samudzi entered no plea in that case and that the charge was dismissed on the prosecutor’s motion on Jan. 11, 2016.
A dismissal order separately obtained by Intellectual Dissatisfaction from the Clay County Clerk of Courts states that the indictment was dismissed without prejudice.
In other words, the records reviewed by Intellectual Dissatisfaction show a distribution-related charge, but not a South Dakota distribution conviction.
Attorney disputed ICE characterization
Samudzi’s attorney had already disputed ICE’s description before Intellectual Dissatisfaction obtained the complete statewide search.
“With permission, although it is public record, he has a conviction for ingestion and a dismissed indictment,” the attorney told Intellectual Dissatisfaction.
The newly obtained court records corroborate that account as it relates to Samudzi’s South Dakota record.
The statewide UJS report lists only three matters associated with Nate Samudzi: the misdemeanor ingestion conviction, the dismissed marijuana distribution case and a 2012 municipal speeding conviction.
The report states that the search can include South Dakota criminal court data dating from January 1989 to the present and that its results are based on records precisely matching the identifying information submitted.
Intellectual Dissatisfaction has also obtained the underlying Clay County judgment showing Samudzi’s ingestion conviction, as well as the indictment and subsequent dismissal associated with the distribution charge.
ICE asked to clarify statement
The records do not establish whether ICE was referring to some separate conviction outside South Dakota when it provided its statement to KTIV.
Intellectual Dissatisfaction has asked ICE to identify the basis for its claim that Samudzi has a conviction for “drug possession and distribution” and whether the agency is aware of any separate possession or distribution conviction not reflected in South Dakota’s statewide court records.
ICE was also asked whether it stands by its original statement or intends to issue a correction or clarification.
As of publication, the agency had not responded to that request.
Samudzi remains in federal immigration custody while his separate habeas corpus challenge proceeds in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
This story will be updated if ICE responds or additional criminal court records become available.
