35-year sentence imposed for fatal shooting in Pine Ridge

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A man who opened fire on a Pine Ridge house, killing one of its many occupants, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Ricky Bagola earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the January 2020 death of 30-year-old Casey Long Weston who was killed after the defendant blindly fired seven rounds into the house in a dispute over methamphetamine. Two of the rounds hit Weston, who was one of seven people in the house.

Court documents make no mention of Weston being involved in the drug dispute. Weston was the father of four children.