United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SIOUX FALLS- A Sioux Falls woman, Regan Lehr, convicted of Distribution of a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death was sentenced October 5, to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Lehr was indicted for Distribution of a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death by a federal grand jury in August 2025. She pleaded guilty on July 27, 2026.
On February 28, 2025, Sioux Falls Police officers responded to a report of an overdose. They found Creighton Cowles unresponsive in his apartment and attempted live-saving efforts but were ultimately unsuccessful and Cowles died. A coroner later determined Cowles’ cause of death was fentanyl toxicity. Investigators discovered that Regan Lehr had sold Cowles a tenth of gram of powder containing fentanyl shortly before his death. Cowles ingested the fentanyl resulting in his overdose and death.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sioux Falls Police Department and the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.

Lehr was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.