US District Court
A recent hearing in U.S. District Court concludes the strange saga of Philip Dobbins, who will now spend over a decade in prison for his role in a drug distribution conspiracy. 44-year-old Phillip Aaron Dobbins appeared for a sentencing hearing before United States District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on Aug. 16. It’s the final…
A railroad restoration company’s C.E.O. will serve over two years in prison after defrauding the federal government and knowingly exposing his employees to hazardous material. Acting United States Attorney Nicholas Vassallo announced today (July 11, 2022) that John Eldon Rimmasch, 47, of Cheyenne, and his company Wasatch Railroad Contractors, appeared before Federal District Court Judge Alan…
The saga of Cody criminal Phillip Dobbins continues as he pleads guilty to planning the sale of methamphetamine – in Park County and through the mail. United States Attorney Bob Murray announced that 44-year-old Phillip Aaron Dobbins pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Dobbins changed his original plea of not guilty during…
A railroad restoration company owner has been found guilty of charges that could mean over 100 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. 47-year-old John Eldon Rimmasch, the founder and C.E.O. of Wasatch Railroad Contractors, was found guilty of five counts of wire fraud and one count of knowing endangerment. His trial occurred…
A former Yellowstone contractor will serve nearly four years in prison after assaulting and kidnapping someone within the national park’s boundaries – an automatic federal felony. On April 18, Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal sentenced 40-year-old Gregory Michael Samuel Toth for his actions on Oct. 1, 2021. He was sentenced to 44 months…
Two people have been sentenced for their involvement in an inter-state conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine out of Cody thru the mail. This February, William Taylor and Melissa Walsh were sentenced to years in prison for their involvement in a “conspiracy” to distribute drugs. Both individuals were charged with the distribution of methamphetamine in 2021. Chief…
The California resident will spend nine months in jail after one drunken night in Yellowstone that ended with broken property and injured rangers. Benjamin J. Bagala, age 27, of Santa Rosa, California, pleaded guilty during a Zoom hearing with U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman. He was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, or…
A Gillette woman faces 35 years in prison and $750,000 in fines after multiple schemes to defraud investors and get fraudulent payments from the I.R.S. Alexa Kinney of Gillette, Wyoming, pled guilty on January 3 to wire fraud, using an unauthorized access device, and making false claims to the Internal Revenue Service before U.S. District…
After some legal snafus, a woman who was prosecuted and sentenced to jail for violating the rules in Yellowstone won’t be serving any time behind bars. Summer 2021 was the busiest season in the history of Yellowstone National Park. But record-breaking numbers have raised several concerns on how and if the park can handle that…
A 25-year-old man pleads not guilty to carrying over one hundred million dollars of fatal Fentanyl along I-80 in Wyoming this July. The Cowboy State Daily reports that Diego J. Aguilar-Valdovinos appeared in U.S. District Court sometime last week. During the hearing, he pleaded not guilty to possessing fentanyl with an intent to distribute. Aguilar-Valdovinos…