Federal agents and prosecutors are not saying why a brutal rape case against a Fremont County man was dropped Friday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Elmore filed an evidentiary affidavit Jan. 25, accusing Tyler Joseph Roman of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, strangulation and kidnapping a Fremont County woman earlier that week.
The affidavit, penned by FBI Special Agent Andrew Stiles, gave a graphic account accusing Roman of confining a woman in his truck, forcing her to perform sex acts, beating and strangling her for about four hours the night of Jan. 17.
Elmore asked U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson last week to let him dismiss the case against Roman – without prejudice, meaning Elmore can bring the case again if more evidence surfaces or circumstances change.
Johnson granted Elmore’s request after a seven-minute hearing in Cheyenne on Friday.
Elmore filed his official dismissal later that same day.
‘You Deserve This’
Roman would have faced up to life in prison and $250,000 in fines had he been convicted of the allegations, which include repeatedly beating and sexually assaulting a woman in his truck over about four hours.
The woman had spurned Roman’s advances to have sex a week earlier, according to an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
“The anger of Roman was unlike anything (she) had experienced,” says the affidavit, adding that the woman allegedly pleaded with him to let her go, but he reacted by beating and strangling her even harder.
At one point, he allegedly told the woman, “I am going to kill you. You deserve this,” according to the affidavit.
The woman told investigators she believed she was going to die and tried to deescalate the situation by agreeing with Roman.
Ordinarily, rape cases are handled by local county and district attorneys in Wyoming. But because this case happened on the Wind River Indian Reservation, involved tribal members and is charged at the felony level, the FBI has jurisdiction.
Crickets
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Wyoming declined to comment on its dismissal petition last week.
The FBI declined Monday to comment to Cowboy State Daily, referring the question back to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
