South Dakota reporter arrested, fired for using Gov. Kristi Noem's phone number to make prank call

A Dakota News Now reporter has been fired, following his arrest in connection with charges alleging he made a prank phone call to the former chair of the South Dakota Republican Party using Gov. Kristi Noem’s personal cell phone number, according to court documents.

The Stanley County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Austin Goss, the capitol bureau reporter for Dakota News Now, had been arrested Thursday morning and released on a personal recognizance bond. Dakota News Now and KOTA Territory News, which employed Goss, issued a joint statement at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, which announced the termination of the reporter.

“We learned of the incident involving Austin Goss late last night. Once we gathered the facts, we decided to terminate his employment with our stations," the statement read. "Dakota News Now and KOTA Territory were unaware of Mr. Goss’ activities and deeply regret the lack of judgment he showed, which violated our policies and is contrary to our commitment to the highest standards of journalistic integrity.”

Goss' image and name has been removed from the news outlet's staff directory online by 1:45 p.m., along with his biographical page.

A probable cause statement written by a special agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation said a 50-year-old individual with the initials D.L. reported to the South Dakota Highway Patrol that he had received a "harassing phone call."

Documents say the call came from a website called PrankDial, which was able to make it appear as though the call was coming from Noem’s cell phone. The call was reportedly made around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22.

Dan Lederman, the former chair of the South Dakota Republican Party, confirmed to the Argus Leader on Thursday that he was the recipient of the call, but said he had no further comment.

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Noem announced Jan. 23 she was urging both the United States Attorney General and multiple congressional committees to investigate the leaking of her family's personal information, including her personal cell phone number.

That phone number was hacked to make hoax calls, which she had no involvement in, according to the governor's office in a press release at the time.

The urgent ask followed news the week prior to the prank call, when Noem's office urged the United States Attorney General to investigate why her and her family's social security numbers were leaked when the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Investigation released their findings.

It's unclear if the leak of Noem's phone number and the prank call allegedly made by Goss are directly connected. Officials with the United States Attorney Office said they would not comment when contacted by the Argus Leader. Noem's office also declined to comment.

The call was a pre-recorded prank from the website PrankDial.com, titled “Mafia Guy Got Vaccines,” in which a mafia member angrily accuses the recipient of stealing boxes of vaccines that had been stashed in their basement, including lines like "You telling me you didn't tell Vito that you were gonna try to move the three boxes of that AstraZeneca outside this family?"

The call ends “You’ve just been pranked by PrankDial.com.”

Court documents say that between subpoenas of PrankDial and Midcontinent Communications, they were able to determine the IP address belonged to Goss in his Fort Pierre home, and been used to make the call.

Lederman told the investigator that Goss would “occasionally text him snide or rude remarks,” and said he was annoyed by the phone call, documents show. The documents state Lederman said, “the tone and tenor of the audio recording startled him and caused him concern for his safety.”

Investigators said given that Goss likely had both Noem’s and Lederman’s cell phone numbers, and that his internet connection was password protected, probable cause existed that he made the call.

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Goss was charged with "making threatening, harassing, misleading contacts,” a class 1 misdemeanor. The maximum penalty could be one year’s imprisonment and $2,000 in fines.

Goss nor his attorney wanted to talk on the record. Goss' initial court appearence is scheduled for May 23.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota reporter arrested, fired for impersonating Gov. Noem's cell number