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Michael P. Ramirez

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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Cartoon: Thursday, October 12, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Pandas are primarily known for their dexterity...

Daily Cartoon: Thursday, October 12, 2023

Kerry Drake

Crime & Courts

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak says stopping human sex trafficking is a new agency priority because for too long Cheyenne has been a “safe haven” for this form of modern slavery.

An undercover operation in Cheyenne led by two detectives resulted in two arrests for soliciting acts of prostitution last weekend. Kozak said the effort is the first in many years for his office, but he promised there will be more.

“People come to Cheyenne to make those (prostitution) arrangements because everyone knew there was no enforcement,” Kozak told Cowboy State Daily.

“But it’s a hard thing to recover women in the trade. Because there’s so much pressure on them, whether it’s drug addiction or physical abuse. Actually the situation that they’re in, sometimes it’s better than their real home life.”

Kozak said that 10 years ago, when he was Cheyenne police chief, his department began undercover operations to arrest human traffickers when he noticed the online activity was extremely high in Cheyenne.

“I went to my sergeant who ran the undercover unit and told him I wanted them to all go to human trafficking training because I think we have a problem in Cheyenne,” the sheriff said.

Kozak said the sergeant didn’t believe him until he did some research and looked at Craigslist and some other sites. 

“He said, ‘Oh my God, we do have a major spike here',” he recalled. “We started to make some great cases against traffickers, or what the industry might call a pimp.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"A Costly Operation"}]

It takes lots of time and money for law enforcement to try to stop human sex trafficking, which is rarely prosecuted in Wyoming. Often the crimes are charged as sexual assault or child abuse.

In addition to overtime, the department had to buy cameras for undercover operations, have “buy money” available for stings, and create ads online. 

“Then the investigations themselves can take us out of state as well,” Kozak said. 

Successful results are difficult to gauge.

Kozak said his office was successful in helping some women leave the sex trade, but it didn’t happen until after investigations were completed and the women came to them.

“We have the resources to help them, we have housing, and that’s the goal for these operations,” he said. 

He said the police stings ended when he left the Cheyenne Police Department because the next administration didn’t make human trafficking a priority. 

“As sheriff, I’m bringing it back again,” Kozak said.

He said trafficking spikes during Cheyenne Frontier Days, which typically brings about 200,000 visitors for the 10-day event.

“During this first (sheriff’s) operation we focused on demand reduction, or what you would call ‘johns', because it’s easier than recovering men in the sex trade,” Kozak noted. “The detectives learned a lot and will change some things when they do that type of operation.”   

But the focus will shift soon to trying to find women and young girls in the sex trade as well, Kozak said, by using "reverse stings.” Undercover officers will pose as men wanting to pay for sex acts.

“We’ve trained every single person in the sheriff’s office; all 240 including the civilian staff, have all been trained in human sex trafficking,” Kozak said. “I wanted them to know that was our goal, to reduce the problem here.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"All Personnel Trained"}]

Instead of sending a few detectives to training sessions, Kozak said experts came to Cheyenne. One such session was Tuesday, where assessments were made about what went right and wrong during the first sting.

“What we’re planning to do is take the money we’ve received from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and roll it back to pay for the human-trafficking enforcement,” he said.

The sheriff’s office under Kozak’s command signed controversial agreements with ICE last year to deputize local law-enforcement agencies to perform duties otherwise conducted by federal immigration agents. That included arresting and holding people in the county jail until they’re moved to a federal detention center.

In the future, undocumented immigrants arrested through agreements with ICE might be in jail in Cheyenne with sex traffickers who were captured by local law enforcement using funds from the federal agency.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming sued the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office in May, contending the agency didn’t follow Wyoming law when it signed the agreements.

The first two men the sheriff’s office arrested for alleged solicitation of an act of prostitution were David Drehbol and Christopher Miller, both of Cheyenne. The sheriff’s office identified Drehbol as a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2007 for unlawful sexual contact in Colorado.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) tracks sex cases in every state. The NHTH works closely with service providers, law enforcement, and other professionals in Wyoming to serve victims and survivors of trafficking, respond to trafficking cases, and share information and resources. 

Since the organization’s inception in 2007, it has 

identified 148 cases of human trafficking

Sex trafficking activity is difficult to track and prosecute. But Terri Markham, executive director of Uprising, a statewide anti-human trafficking group based in Sheridan, estimated Wyoming likely generates $12 million a year from pimp-controlled sex trafficking alone. 

Cara Chambers,Wyoming Division of Victim Services director, told the 

 that Wyoming is susceptible to this type of organized crime. She said Wyoming’s rural population and vast land mass result in many places where traffickers can set up operations undetected.

A large interweb of interstate highways also connects people to some of the biggest hubs in the West. 

“There’s a bit of a circuit that these traffickers will take their victims through to Las Vegas and up in California, and it goes through Wyoming,” Chambers said.

The Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

If you or someone you know is experiencing human trafficking, contact the national human trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or your local law enforcement office.

Kerry Drake can be reached at: Kerry@CowboyStateDaily.com

Kozak sex trafficking 6 25 26

<title>Sheriff Says Laramie County Will Stop Being ‘Safe Haven’ For Human Trafficking | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A sex solicitation sting in Cheyenne led to the arrest of two men last weekend. Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak says it’s the beginning of a new effort to stop human trafficking that has been ignored for too long by law enforcement.

Sheriff Says Laramie County Will Stop Being ‘Safe Haven’ For Human Trafficking

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Fishing

Facing extreme drought in the wake of an exceptionally mild winter, officials in Colorado and Oregon have thrown up their hands and told anglers at some reservoirs: Catch all the fish you want, because they’re going to die anyway.

Conditions aren’t nearly so dire at two of Wyoming’s premier fishing reservoirs, Flaming Gorge in Sweetwater County and Boysen in Fremont County, where limits remain in place and the angling should remain good this summer, a state park manager and marina owner told Cowboy State Daily.

In northeastern Oregon, fishing limits were lifted on three reservoirs on the Powder River, a tributary of the Snake River, which originates in Wyoming.

Colorado is allowing unlimited angling on Antero Reservoir on the South Platte River in the central part of the state, and the Nee Noshe Reservoir to the southeast.

Utah has loosened catch limits on Crouse Reservoir, east of Salt Lake City, and Nine Mile Reservoir, south of the city.

In each instance, state agencies surmised reservoirs are getting so low and stagnant the fish are doomed regardless, according to numerous media reports.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Emergency, Yet"}]

Despite drought conditions across the state, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department doesn’t have “immediate plans to enact emergency regulations to liberalize creel limits,” according to fisheries management coordinator Mark Smith.

“However, conditions could change rapidly. If an emergency change to creel limits were to occur that information would be disseminated widely to the public and posted at the water for anglers to find,” Smith said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

Some of Wyoming’s larger reservoirs have conservation pools, or “dead pools,” to act as buffers for fisheries when water is running low, Smith said.

Even so, “all stored water has limitations,” he added. The water at Flaming Gorge and Boysen is expected to drop enough to render some boat ramps useless.

So, Game and Fish is watching closely for a “tipping point” that might warrant a change in fishing regulations, Smith said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bad New For Small Waters"}]

For smaller fisheries, the news isn’t quite so good.

“Ultimately, our goal is to protect all of our fisheries, but we recognize that some of our small waters have already been lost, or will be lost, to drying,” Smith said.

Sometimes that happens so fast there isn’t time to react, he said.  

“For example, when we were finally able to access roads and assess small ponds in the 33 Mile country north of Casper this May, most of those fisheries had already succumbed to low water elevations and poor water-quality conditions,” Smith said.

“Other sagebrush stock-water reservoirs could face a similar fate,” he added.

Emergency regulations require the governor’s signature.

“Emergency regulations take effect immediately upon the Governor’s approval and would be lifted if conditions improved and fish were likely to survive,” Smith said.

Boysen Reservoir has been roughly 70% full during June, Boysen State Park superintendent John Bass said.

Boysen is one of Wyoming’s top destinations for walleye, and also boasts good trout fishing.

Bass said he doesn’t anticipate the reservoir dropping to the point of mass fish die-offs or calls to lift all fishing limits.

According to Bureau of Reclamation estimates, Boysen will slowly fall, but remain above 50% capacity.

All four Boysen boat ramps are usable, he said. They are Bannon, Tough Creek, Fremont Bay and Cottonwood Bay.

“Although, as the lake starts falling, the Fremont and Cottonwood Ramps will be too shallow to use. But that’s a fairly common occurrence in my 10 years here,” Bass said. "The Brannon and Tough Creek boat ramps will be usable for the remainder of the year, until ice-up.” 

Likewise, there’s no reason to think officials will call for a free-for-all at Flaming Gorge, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah state line, Buckboard Marina owner Tony Valdez said.

“I don’t think we’ll be at the stagnant water level, where we could lose all of the fish,” he said.

Flaming Gorge draws anglers from all over the region for its prized kokanee salmon. It’s also known for lake trout and other species.

The Bureau of Reclamation this spring announced that Flaming Gorge is set for a million-acre-foot drawdown to make up for severe shortages downstream at Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona state line.

An acre foot is the amount of water that would flood an acre of land to the depth of one foot.

Valdez has previously expressed concerns the drawdown could ruin kokanee spawning areas. Kokanee are already under pressure because of competition with lake trout and burbot.

Wyoming Game and Fish and the Utah Division of Wildlife already lifted catch limits on smaller lake trout (under 28 inches) and burbot, in hopes of helping the kokanee.

Valdez said he doesn’t expect fishing limits to be suspended on any other species.

However, boat ramps could be rendered useless as the reservoir drops for the drawdown, he added.

Valdez said his marina could also tank this summer.

“This year, the marina could be gone. In fact, I’ve got to go deal with that right now, and move some stuff around (because of dropping water levels),” he said during a telephone interview with Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Catfish Getting Scarce"}]

Valdez said if there’s any danger of water dropping to fish-killing levels it would hit first upstream, at Fontenelle Reservoir.

“If it did get that low, the first one to go would be Fontenelle, then the Green (River) and then Flaming Gorge. But I don’t see it dropping that low,” he said.

Drought has ruined some of the fishing on the Blacks River, which feeds Flaming Gorge on the west side, Valdez said.

That river once was a hot spot for catfish, he noted.

“People still catch catfish near the confluence, more so in the lake than on the river. The river gets stagnant,” he said.

While Flaming Gorge is holding its own for now, the long-term picture could be stark.

During a Tuesday meeting in Denver, members of the Upper Colorado River Commission said conditions along the river system – which includes the Green River – are dire.

Wyoming state engineer Brandon Gebhart said it could be the 

Antero reservoir 6 26 26

<title>Colorado And Oregon Lift Fishing Restrictions, Drought Will Kill Fish Anyway | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Facing extreme drought in the wake of an exceptionally mild winter, officials in Colorado and Oregon have told anglers at some reservoirs: Catch all the fish you want, because they’re going to die anyway. In Wyoming, emergency measures are on hold.

Colorado And Oregon Lift Fishing Restrictions, Drought Will Kill Fish Anyway

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

A dispute over primitive outhouses on Amish-owned property in Crook County has prompted claims that some families are leaving northeast Wyoming’s oldest Amish community, though county officials say the issue has been resolved and was never intended to drive anyone away.

Sheridan rancher Pepper Fipps said he believes county enforcement efforts over wastewater disposal in the Hulett area have discouraged Amish families from remaining in the community.

“They wind up starting a little bit of a war,” Fipps said of the commissioners. “The community is dwindling.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Crook County Commission vice chairman Bob Latham disputes that."}]

“It’s all settled now. Everything is fixed,” Latham told Cowboy State Daily.

An estate moving sale earlier this month was held for two Amish families — Abe and Elizabeth Yoder and Rudy and Irene Borntreger. Records show Abe Yoder was among the landowners involved in the wastewater dispute.

About 40 Amish families live in the Hulett area, Fipps said. Founded in 2011, the Hulett Amish settlement is one of five in Wyoming.

Cowboy State Daily attempted to contact the families but did not receive responses before publication. Amish communities have traditionally relied on the U.S. mail for communication, and many members do not use cell phones or email.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sanitation Concerns"}]

The issue surfaced in October 2024, when Crook County officials learned some Amish landowners west of Hulett had dug pits to use as toilets without obtaining permits.

Crook County wastewater specialist Caleb Peters informed commissioners that Yoder had installed outhouses that did not comply with county regulations, according to reporting by the Sundance Times.

Latham said a hole in the ground used to collect human waste is considered an illegal outhouse because it poses a risk to groundwater.

Commissioners scheduled a hearing in January 2025, expecting Yoder to attend and discuss the matter, but he did not appear, according to the Times.

Peters and county planning director Tim Lyons determined conditions at some properties presented health concerns after observing graywater and blackwater drainage. The Times reported Peters found a chicken with its head inside blackwater drainage at one residence, along with what he described as an odor of rot. At another property, he reportedly discovered an abandoned outhouse occupied by animals.

Latham said county code requires human-waste receptacles to be portable, pumpable or connected to a septic system.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Fines Levied"}]

Fipps contends county officials threatened landowners with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with regulations.

He called the county’s rule about illegal outhouses “asinine, stupid."

“It is baffling to me because I haven’t ever seen an outhouse blow up,” he said, noting Amish families typically live on 160-acre parcels well away from town.

[{"type":"text","text":"Latham said fines were never a part of the county’s solution."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“To my knowledge, we never imposed fines,” he said."}]

Due to the challenge of communicating with Amish residents, County Attorney Joe Baron mailed letters to the landowners, Latham said. Peters also visited properties in person several times, he added.

“Some didn't want to talk to him,” Latham said. “Some did and were very cordial. The ones who didn't found out we're not going to quit, because it's about health and safety. It's something we take very seriously.”

After being notified of the violations, some landowners installed vault toilets that comply with county requirements, he said.

He credited Peters’ persistence with resolving the issue. 

“Caleb did a heck of a job of staying on it and getting things corrected,” Latham said. “Sometimes they feel like they can follow a different path. It was a lot of education and a lot of back-and-forth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Government Overreach Or Public Health?"}]

Fipps said he believes the county's response amounted to government overreach.

Latham disagrees, saying Crook County is obligated to enforce regulations consistent with standards established by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

“Every time we have to knuckle down and say, 'This isn't right', we hear that,” he said. “We could have been a lot meaner about it. It was mainly getting an understanding of what the laws are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Our biggest thing with that deal is their health and safety.” "}]

According to the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Crook County is home to Wyoming's largest Amish settlement. The state's Amish population numbers roughly 500 people spread among five settlements.

[{"type":"text","text":"Smaller settlements have since formed near Newcastle, Buffalo and Powell."}]

“I've known them my whole life,” Fipps said of the Hulett settlement. “I've traded horses with them and done business with them.”

Outhouse 2 6 24 26

<title>Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Sheridan rancher says an "asinine, stupid" outhouse crackdown is pushing Amish families out of the Hulett area. He said landowners were threatened with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with outhouse regulations.

Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner, who works as a financial advisor, was “discharged” from his broker clearinghouse company in late April on allegations that he “engaged in unapproved outside business activity,” 

Reid Rasner is also running in a 10-candidate Republican primary race to win the party’s nomination toward Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat. Last year he announced, and later suspended, intentions to buy the tech giant TikTok amid congressional efforts to transfer the Chinese-involved company into American hands.

 also appears in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission profile, which says he started working through the investment clearinghouse LPL Financial LLC on March 1, 2019, and remained there until spring of this year.  

LPL Financial discharged Rasner on April 24 due to allegations he engaged in unapproved outside business activity, the profile says in a “disclosure” category. The disclosure doesn’t elaborate.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) profile of Rasner says he was registered previously as a broker “and is currently registered as an investment advisor.”

He’s held state registrations in New York and Wyoming, the profile says.

Before Rasner’s seven-year relationship with LPL Financial he was with Edward Jones for a year.

In 2019, the year Rasner’s work with LPL Financial began, he registered Wyoming Wealth Advisors LLC with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office, and three years later he registered his business Omnivest LLC with the state.

“Our Website is currently under maintenance!” the banner says. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

A disclosure brochure about OmniVest, dated June 15, says Rasner has a non-financial affiliated business as a congressional candidate.

“Approximately 10% of his time is spent on these activities. This does not present a conflict,” says 

LPL Financial did not respond by publication to an email inquiry to its press line.

[{"type":"text","text":"FINRA directed Cowboy State Daily to LPL."}]

Rasner, in response to an inquiry sent to his campaign team, said “Omnivest Financial is a registered RIA based in Wyoming, proudly serving veterans and clients across multiple states. In our industry, the transition of business relationships is a routine and common occurrence, particularly when professionals launch new firms.”

Rasner added, “I remain fully focused on growing my new firm, continuing to deliver exceptional service to clients, and helping bring investment, jobs, and economic opportunity back to Wyoming.”

As for what LPL Financial could have meant with the “unapproved outside business activity allegation,” Riverton-based financial advisor Mike Zirbel said, “It’s hard to narrow down.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That’s because financial advisors are tightly regulated, he said."}]

“There are so many things that would count as unapproved activities,” Zirbel added. 

[{"type":"text","text":"A Little Background"}]

Rasner’s first-quarter Federal Election Commission report for his House campaign says he has loaned himself $1.2 million and contributed another $9,072 to his own campaign. That’s within a total of about $1.264 million in total receipts.

Rasner also ran an unsuccessful 2024 campaign against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso

[{"type":"text","text":"Barrasso defeated Rasner 70,494 to 25,427 in the 2024 GOP primary."}]

Rasner’s total receipts for that campaign finished off at $1.33 million, the 

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner loaned himself $1.28 million in the 2024 campaign.  "}]

Editor's note: Two days after Cowboy State Daily requested a comment from Rasner for this story, his business Omnivest Financial sent the following quote:

“Mr. Rasner was never an employee of LPL Financial. He was an independent contractor who owned 100% of his prior business. The transition Omnivest Financial made was a negotiated business transaction in which LPL purchased client relationships as Mr. Rasner launched his own registered investment advisor firm. Any suggestion that Mr. Rasner was terminated for misconduct is inaccurate, misleading, and unacceptable.”

The story had not accused Rasner of "misconduct," but had drawn from the language of the SEC disclosure, which says his "termination type" was "discharged" for allegations of "unapproved outside business activity." 

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<title>Wyoming Congressional Candidate Reid Rasner Fired By Clearinghouse | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner, who works as a financial advisor, was “discharged” from his broker clearinghouse company in late April on allegations that he “engaged in unapproved outside business activity,” federal filings say.

Wyoming Congressional Candidate Reid Rasner Fired By Clearinghouse

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

A Casper teen accused of attacking his mother led police to a hidden cache of stolen firearms tucked behind a secret wall in his bedroom. 

Honor Jason Wickert, 17, appeared Tuesday afternoon in Natrona County Circuit Court, where he was formally charged with four felonies and several misdemeanors, including interference, domestic battery, carrying a concealed weapon, and being a minor in possession of tobacco products. 

Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen confirmed Wednesday morning that prosecutors are charging Wickert as an adult.

Court documents paint a picture of a family dispute that escalated into a foot chase through Casper neighborhoods and ended with police uncovering several stolen firearms, credit cards, and more. 

The four felony theft charges alone carry a combined maximum penalty of 40 years in prison if served consecutively. Additional jail time could be imposed for the misdemeanor charges.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Fracture"}]

According to an affidavit, police were called June 20 after Wickert's mother reported her son had assaulted her during an argument over a cellphone.

She told investigators she was increasingly concerned about what Wickert was hiding inside his locked bedroom.

Days earlier, she forced her way into the room and found vape pens and what she believed could be a credit-card skimming or cloning device, according to court records.

Afterward, Wickert reportedly installed a new locking knob on the bedroom door.

The situation boiled over June 20 when the woman attempted to take his cellphone, says the affidavit submitted by Casper Police Officer Colton Lewis. 

The woman told investigators Wickert pushed her to the ground, pinned her with a knee to her back and caused injuries to her face, elbow and back. 

Officers documented bruising and redness consistent with her account, the affidavit states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Backyard Sprint"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wickert called the police himself."}]

According to court records, he reported that his mother was accusing him of stealing her belongings and kicking doors inside the home.

A Casper teen accused of attacking his mother led police to a hidden cache of stolen firearms and credit cards tucked behind a secret wall in his bedroom. Honor Jason Wickert is being charged as an adult with four felonies and several misdemeanors.

Daily Cartoon: Thursday, October 12, 2023

Michael P. Ramirez

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Daily Cartoon: Thursday, October 12, 2023

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Michael P. Ramirez

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