Wyoming News Briefs

Sheridan woman faces aggravated vehicular homicide charge

SHERIDAN (WNE) — A Sheridan woman faces charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated homicide by vehicle in Sheridan County Circuit Court.

Angela McIver Livingston, 40, faces the two charges at 2 p.m. in circuit court today after a traffic incident killed her husband at 7:54 p.m. June 9 on the 300 block of East Brundage Street.

Sheridan Police Department officers responded to the location after receiving a report of an individual struck by a motor vehicle. SPD said in a press release that the male victim was struck by a truck being operated by his wife after he exited the vehicle without her knowledge. The wife of the victim had stopped in the middle of the road during a verbal altercation with a male and female riding a motorcycle.

The man was treated at the scene by Rocky Mountain Ambulance and Sheridan Fire-Rescue before being transported to Sheridan Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“This tragedy unfolded due to a multitude of unfortunate events, with alcohol being a contributing factor,” SPD Chief Rich Adriaens said.

The BAC of Livingston was unavailable at press time.

Updates on the investigation will be provided as they are available.

Park County coroner to temporarily store bodies in garage bay

CODY (WNE) — Park County has at least in the short term found a place to keep its deceased.

“It is about the only really feasible, temporary solution that we have,” county coroner Tim Power said.

The county will use a garage bay at the Park County Law Enforcement Center temporarily to refrigerate corpses being analyzed in county investigations. 

Power first announced at a May 21 county commissioner meeting Ballard Funeral Home no longer has space to allow the county to use its facilities in order to refrigerate corpses being analyzed in county investigations. On June 4, Power returned before the commissioners and said Ballard has given the county two weeks until it must move its bodies.

“We’ve got to have somewhere to go,” he said.

Power said funeral homes around the state are slowly starting to no longer allow counties to use their spaces as certain coroners are not re-elected and new owners take over the businesses. 

At Ballard, their purchase of a new refrigeration unit eliminated space for the county’s equipment. 

Although the new location is a viable solution, it is also a temporary one. 

“Certainly if it carries on for years, we’re masters of eviction at the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Scott Steward said.

Driver stranded in Beartooth Mountains by June snowstorm

POWELL (WNE) — Caught off-guard by a June snowstorm in the Beartooth Mountains, a driver had to be rescued from U.S. Highway 212 early Saturday morning.

The 59-year-old man had been heading east on the Beartooth Highway, traveling from Red Lodge, Montana, to Cooke City on the mountainous route on Friday night. It was there, in Beartooth Pass, that the North Dakota resident had the misfortune of running into a late spring blizzard.

“A few miles inside the Wyoming line is where things started to get really windy and heavy snow and drifting,” said Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Pence. “And he happened to drive into a snowdrift and got a little bit high-centered and was stuck there.”

Although the man didn’t have full cell service, he had enough access to text his wife, who called authorities. The Wyoming Highway Patrol was notified around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

A friend of the motorist attempted to reach the man in a four-wheel-drive truck, but had to turn back because of the snowdrifts — which measured 3- to 4-feet high in spots.

Pence was similarly unable to make it up U.S. 212 in the nasty conditions and he contacted the National Park Service, which plows the Wyoming portion of the highway. They dispatched a plow truck from Cooke City to clear the way to the stranded driver; the truck and Pence reached the man around 5:14 a.m. Saturday and dug him out of the drift, around milepost 32.

Man sentenced to prison in theft of more than 30 guns

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 19-year-old Sundance man has been sentenced to 44 months in federal prison for his part in the theft of more than 30 guns from a Gillette pawn shop last summer.

Gabriel Seth Rodgers was convicted of possession of stolen firearms and conspiracy to distribute LSD and marijuana, according the the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His time in prison will be followed by 36 months of supervised release. He also must pay restitution of $27,116.

Rodgers originally had been charged locally in the case for allegedly helping plan a burglary of 4T Pawn in June 2018 and then selling the 29 stolen handguns and three AR-15 semiautomatic rifles in Colorado. Those charges were dismissed so that federal charges could be pursued against him.

Devon M. Gerlosky, who broke into the building, was convicted earlier of possession of stolen firearms and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.

Gerlosky told investigators he gave the stolen guns to Rodgers and that he believed Rodgers would pay him $3,000 once the guns were sold in Denver.

Gerlosky also said he had previously stolen eight or nine guns from vehicles around Gillette in June and had given them to Rodgers to sell in Colorado, according to court documents.

Another man corroborated Gerlosky’s story, saying he saw Rodgers with a black bag full of guns about 10 hours after the burglary, heard him discuss plans to go to Denver and then saw him leave for Denver in a gray Cadillac Escalade, according to court documents.

Roofer cited for leaving construction trash on public land

JACKSON (WNE) — A Denver roofer on the long drive back from a Jackson Hole homebuilding site has been fined for leaving a heap of construction trash on the publicly owned sagebrush flats outside Farson.

The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it issued an undisclosed party a “substantial citation” for dumping pallets, shingles and other debris on its land adjacent to Highway 191 just north of Farson. Citing BLM policy, a spokesperson for the federal agency last week declined to name the cited party or specify the amount of the fine, which is bondable and does not require a court appearance.

BLM personnel conferred with federal attorneys and reversed course Monday, identifying the illegal litterer as 31-year-old Denver resident Idalia Reyes-Cruz and specifying that she was fined $780. BLM spokeswoman Courtney Whiteman said Tuesday that she did not know the name of the business Reyes-Cruz worked for or the Jackson Hole contractor she subcontracted for, but would provide that information once it became available.

A left-behind water bottle and paperwork provided a BLM law enforcement officer with the evidence needed to identify Reyes-Cruz.

“During our investigation we found a water bottle with a name written on it,” an unidentified BLM law enforcement official said in a statement. “We tracked that person down and used invoices left at the scene to determine the company responsible. We learned the trash originated from a contractor working in the Jackson area and traveling back to Colorado through Farson.”

Wyoming G&F gets $17 million in national tax income

CODY (WNE) — Wyoming’s share of a nationwide bounty of distribution of excise taxes for Game and Fish use is $17 million.

The money is collected on the federal level that comes from the sale of firearms, bows, ammunition, sport fishing tackle, some boat engines and small engine fuel.

Wyoming’s cut is part of a $1 billion allotment from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The money is earmarked from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act.

Each state’s share is based on how many licensed hunters and fishermen it has and the state must provide a 25 percent match.

This is payback to the active sportsmen. G&F Deputy Director John Kennedy said those acts account for 25 percent of the agency’s money “to protect and conserve Wyoming fish and wildlife.”

This money can be spent for fish and wildlife research, managing and restoring fish and wildlife, restoration of habitat, funding of hunter and aquatic education programs, fish stocking, providing boating access and some other programs.

Gillette judge holds public defender in contempt

GILLETTE (WNE) — Circuit Court Judge Paul S. Phillips acknowledged to state legislators that he is fining the Wyoming director of the Public Defenders program $1500 per day for contempt.

Phillips was asked by Interim Judiciary Committee Co-Chairwoman Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, if he was holding Diana Lozano in contempt and fining her $1000 per day since May 23, the day she notified Campbell County judges that her office would no longer represent misdemeanor defendants in cases.

She also notified Natrona County at the same time.

The two jurisdictions are among the busiest in the state.

Phillips clarified to Nethercott that he’s not fining Lozano $1000 per day in contempt for every day the Public Defender’s office doesn’t comply. It’s $1500 a day.

Phillips, who said he has hired his own legal representation, said he felt it would be inappropriate for him to appear Tuesday afternoon when the committee will discuss the issue.

But Nethercott, an attorney, said she wished he would be present and then asked him about his contempt of court measure.

“As the acceleration of the issue increases, I hope you will be here,” Nethercott said in the short exchange.

Rock Springs man accused of sniffing glue, crashing car into house

ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — A Rock Springs man remains inside the Sweetwater County Detention Center after driving into a home while reportedly being high on glue. He is also accused of vehicular homicide in a separate case. 

Around 1:17 p.m. Friday, Rock Springs police officers responded to a vehicle crash. Nicholas Sheridan, 31, was driving an Inter Mountain Electric truck east on Dewar Drive when he left the south side of the roadway and crashed into a home in the 500 block of Dewar Drive. No one was inside the home at the time of the crash, but there was significant damage to the home and truck, according to a RSPD press release. 

Sheridan was treated for minor injuries at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and then arrested for allegedly driving while under the influence; and failure to maintain a single lane. Nicholas was also issued additional citations for allegedly sniffing glue and similar toxic vapors and not wearing a seat belt. 

Nicholas also had an active warrant issued from Laramie County for alleged vehicular homicide.

Competency hearing requested in murder case

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Court proceedings are now on hold for a man charged with first-degree murder after his attorney requested a mental competency evaluation.

Public defender Brandon Booth recently asked that James Wallace undergo a competency evaluation to determine whether Wallace can understand the charges against him and assist in his defense. Wallace is charged in connection with the death of his 80-year-old mother.

If an evaluator at the Wyoming State Hospital finds that Wallace is not competent, court proceedings could be suspended for further evaluation.

Wallace’s latest initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court was scheduled for May 23, but he had not cooperated with legal counsel in time to appear.

If convicted, Wallace, 48, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty. His mother, Carol Wallace, was found dead May 10 in the home the two shared.

According to court documents:

Laramie County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 1100 block of Green Mountain Road, northwest of Cheyenne, for a possible weapons assault at 7:30 a.m. May 10.

A man called to report his brother, James Wallace, was “high on meth and freaking out, said he hit his mother with a hammer.” When deputies arrived on scene, they discovered Carol Wallace’s body face down in the basement on the east side of the home.

Detectives found multiple bloody drag marks leading to the body and a larger pool of blood in the basement.

Lander casino announces layoffs

CASPER (WNE) — The Shoshone Rose Casino and Hotel in Lander is making a number of changes, including employee layoffs, amid financial problems, Eastern Shoshone officials announced Friday afternoon. 

Tribal officials said the casino will lay off 15 to 20 casino employees, end table games, discontinue shuttle bus operations, dissolve the banquet department and close the casino during the overnight hours Sunday through Thursday. The cutbacks are needed to reduce costs and ensure the casino’s survival, officials said. 

The changes were made after the casino hired a gaming consultant amid struggles to meet its financial obligations, according to Eastern Shoshone officials. 

“This has been a difficult process for the (Eastern Shoshone Business Council) but we will do everything we can to bring back these jobs once the casino stabilizes,” business council Chairman Vernon Hill said in the Friday afternoon news release. 

After reviewing the casino and hotel’s operations and meeting with employees, the consultant prepared an “Operational Assessment” that included recommendations to boost revenues, reduce costs and help ease short-term expenses. 

In an email, Eastern Shoshones spokeswoman Alejandra Silva said some changes have already been made while others will happen in the coming weeks. She didn’t specify which changes had already been made. 

Other changes, including additional “reductions” could also follow as the consultant continues to review operations, according to tribal officials. 

The casino opened in 2007 and started a $30 million expansion in 2015 to lure more customers from out of town. 

Campbell County recognized for efforts to protect raptors

GILLETTE (WNE) — Campbell County has been recognized for its efforts to start a conversation on the relationship between raptors and the energy industry.

The National Association of Counties gave Campbell County a 2019 Achievement Award in the category County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability, for developing the Raptor Symposium.

The first symposium was in 2015. Commissioners then wanted to bring the energy sector, federal agencies and private landowners to talk about the golden eagle and ferruginous hawk to better understand them, their nesting habits and how regulations affect industry.

There was a second symposium in 2017 and a third in April.

Commission Chairman Rusty Bell said while it’s easy for commissioners to get all the glory, the county’s support staff deserves a lot of credit as well.

“It was our vision to get all these people in the same room,” he said, but it was the people behind the scenes, such as Ivy McGowan-Castleberry, Sandra Beeman and Dru Bower, who did “a lot of the legwork” to make it possible.