Wyoming News Briefs

Man arrested with 65 pounds of pot

LARAMIE (WNE) — A Texas man has been charged with multiple felonies after he was arrested last week with 65 pounds of marijuana at a Laramie truck stop.

Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper Michael Petruso noticed a gray passenger vehicle driving at about 15 mph under the posted speed limit on Interstate 80 on Nov. 23. He followed the vehicle to Petro Fuel Station and made contact with the driver, 53-year-old David Murray, who said his brother had rented the vehicle for him.

When Petruso asked to see the rental agreement, he smelled “the strong odor of raw marijuana coming from inside of the vehicle,” according to his affidavit.

Murray was then handcuffed and placed in the front seat of a patrol vehicle.

While detained, Murray “slipped his handcuffs from behind him and pulled the electrical cords out of the panel which provide power and internet connectivity” to the patrol vehicle.

Murray then allegedly pulled a power cord apart from its plug, causing the keyboard to be inoperable.

Petruso searched Murray’s vehicle and found three black garbage bags filled with marijuana and dryer sheets.

The total weight of the marijuana was 65 pounds. A later search of the vehicle also found numerous THC vape pens and a loaded Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun with a round in the chamber.

Murray has been charged with felony possession of marijuana, unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, property destruction and interference with a peace officer.

Committee rejects bill to require monthly mineral tax payments

GILLETTE (WNE) — The Joint Revenue Committee has voted down a proposed bill that would have required mineral production companies to pay their ad valorem taxes on a monthly basis starting in 2022 instead of every 18 months as they do now.

The bill, which was viewed by some state lawmakers as a possible remedy to the millions of dollars owed to Wyoming counties in unpaid mineral production taxes, failed on a 9-4 vote Friday, with Campbell County Republicans Rep. Timothy Hallinan and Sen. Jeff Wasserburger among those who voted no.

Wasserburger said now is not the right time for this bill.

“Times are not good in the coal corporations. We’ve had several bankruptcies, we have a coal corporation struggling today, we have one for sale. I’ve never seen that in 35 years in Campbell County,” he said.

Campbell County Commissioner Rusty Bell, who testified to the committee Friday, said he wasn’t surprised the bill was voted down.

Legislators and those in the mineral production industry acknowledge there’s a problem with counties collecting their owed taxes, Bell said.

“But when we have a remedy that puts our industries at an economic disadvantage, it really is very difficult for commissioners and legislators to support it,” he said. “If it fixes a problem but puts someone out of business, then you just create a bigger problem.”

The largest issue legislators had with the proposed bill was that if it were signed into law, there eventually would come a time where the regulations would overlap and companies would have to simultaneously “pay the 18-month tax and the monthly payment,” Bell said.

Most companies are paying their taxes on time and they shouldn’t be punished because of “the bad actors that are causing a problem,” he said.