Former Pennington County prosecutor sentenced for tax evasion

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Rapid City lawyer and a former chief deputy of the Pennington County state’s attorney office has been sentenced to three months in federal prison for failing to pay more than $300,000 in taxes.

Gregory Sperlich was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of willfully failing to pay taxes. He could have been sentenced up to two years in prison. He was also ordered to pay back nearly $228,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Sperlich worked at the state’s attorney office from 1997 to 2004.