FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Dec. 6, 2024

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces two South Dakota Penitentiary inmates have been sentenced for recent assaults on state Department of Correction employees.

Aaron Reeves, 44, and Zachary Hazekamp, 35, were sentenced Wednesday in Minnehaha County. The sentences stem from assaults that occurred in August and October 2023.

“Department of Corrections employees have dangerous jobs, and we will continue to prosecute inmates who commit violent crimes,” said Attorney General Jackley.

Reeves was sentenced to an additional four years in prison, with two years suspended, after pleading no contest to one count of Intentionally Causing Contact with Bodily Fluids after he spit on an employee. Reeves is currently serving three years in prison for two convictions of Simple Assault against a law enforcement officer and one conviction for assault by a Jail Inmate.

Hazekamp was sentenced to an additional five years in prison, with 2 ½ years suspended, after pleading guilty to one count of Simple Assault Against a DOC employee for punching an officer 14 times. Hazekamp is currently serving eight years in prison for an Aggravated Assault conviction.

The most recent cases were investigated by the South Dakota Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General. The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the cases.

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