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<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, May 1, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Wednesday, May 1, 2024

 Woman releases balloons right next to electrical lines, takes out power for entire neighborhood....

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 70-year-old Gillette man's treasured classic 1965 Ford Mustang disappeared from his driveway, then turned up about 100 yards away in a neighbor's shop with its hood open and connected to a battery charger.

By then, investigators say the older man — who Campbell County Sheriff’s Office deputies describe as frail, having dementia and living in squalor — had allegedly signed paperwork transferring the car to the neighbors for $500 and a promise that his lawn would be mowed every weekend until he died.

Deputies now allege that wasn't a bargain, they believe it was exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a felony.

Jeremy Talon Boggs and Jazlyn V. Foltz are accused of taking advantage of the man's declining mental condition to get the classic Mustang, which investigators estimated is worth anywhere between $30,000 and $44,600.

Court documents show the couple allegedly insisted the man willingly sold them the vehicle. 

The 70-year-old, however, told deputies he didn't know who they were and never gave anyone permission to take his car.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Neighbor's Call"}]

The investigation began Saturday afternoon after other neighbors of the man on Peaceful Valley Drive called the Campbell County Sheriff's Office.

They told deputies he suffered from dementia and believed Boggs and Foltz had recently begun spending an unusual amount of time at his home.

One neighbor reported seeing flashlights moving around the man's property the previous night. The following morning, the man's classic green Ford Mustang was parked at the home of a nearby residence occupied by Boggs and Foltz.

Neighbors said the had always considered the Mustang one of his prized possessions and repeatedly told them he would never sell it because it was such a beautiful classic car.

Concerned they were watching an elderly neighbor being taken advantage of, they called law enforcement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Inside The Home"}]

When they responded, deputies found the man seated in a recliner, according to an affidavit of probable caused filed in the case.

According to the affidavit, he appeared "extremely weak and feeble" and was unable to answer basic questions, including that day's date or his own phone number.

Investigators described the home as being in severe disrepair with trash, spoiled food and other biohazards throughout the residence.

During the interview, deputies noticed the older man also struggling with basic personal care. 

Investigators concluded he was unable to properly care for himself and "was not sound of mind" while speaking with deputies.

Adult Protective Services had already been notified of the man's situation and was reportedly planning to visit the following day.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Mustang"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Deputies then went looking for the car, the affidavit says."}]

They found it inside a shop on Commerce Drive with its hood open and connected to a battery tender.

Boggs told investigators he had bought the Mustang from the man for $500. As part of the deal, Boggs said he promised to mow the man's lawn every weekend for the rest of his life.

Foltz allegedly told deputies the older man initially wanted $10,000 for the car before negotiating the final arrangement.

Boggs also played a cellphone video that he said showed the man signing a bill of sale.

Deputies reviewed the paperwork and noted what they believed were several red flags, according to the affidavit.

The bill of sale listed the wrong model year for the Mustang, was not properly notarized and included Foltz's signature as a witness, reported Campbell County Sheriff's Deputy Kyle Rhoades.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Different Stories "}]

Deputies told the couple that the man had just informed investigators he didn't know who they were and had no knowledge of selling his Mustang.

According to Rhoades, Foltz responded that the man had known her name during a recent conversation and appeared "lucid."

Boggs and Foltz also defended the price they claim was agreed to for the classic car.

They told deputies the man owned five vehicles and no longer needed the Mustang.

A deputy estimated the Mustang's value at approximately $30,000. A later JD Power valuation placed it at roughly $44,600 in average condition, the affidavit says.

The vehicle was seized and towed to the Campbell County Sheriff's Office evidence lot.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Charges Filed"}]

On Monday, Boggs and Foltz were each charged with one count of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of grand theft before Campbell County Circuit Court Judge Paul S. Phillips. 

Because investigators estimated the Mustang was worth between $30,000 and $44,600, the case qualifies as grand theft under Wyoming law, which applies to property valued at more than $1,000.

Both felony charges carry maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison. If convicted on both counts, each defendant could face up to 20 years behind bars.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bond was set at $7,500 cash or surety for each defendant."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A preliminary hearing for both is scheduled for July 20."}]

Campbell County sign and sheriffs office 7 14 26

<title>Gillette Couple Accused Of Scamming Neighbor With Dementia Out Of 1965 Mustang | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Gillette couple is accused of exploiting a 70-year-old neighbor with dementia into giving them his classic 1965 Mustang worth more than $44,000. In return, they allegedly said they’d give the man $500 and promised to mow his law once a week for life.

Gillette Couple Accused Of Scamming Neighbor With Dementia Out Of 1965 Mustang

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

Clair McFarland

The DUI case of state Rep. Bill Allemand has shifted into a spat between lawyers about how they’re handling it, and a possible criminal action against Allemand’s defense attorney.

Allemand, a Republican of Midwest, Wyoming, was 

 with DUI, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and $750 in fines. He’s set for trial Sept. 16.

Meanwhile, Buffalo Circuit Court Magistrate Jeremy Kisling has ordered Allemand’s attorney Mike Vang to appear in court Wednesday to “show cause” for why he did not attend a hearing last week.

Kisling had issued a June 26 order setting the July 8 hearing so that Vang could argue support for his allegations that the case prosecutor, Johnson County Deputy Attorney Joshua Stensaas, hasn’t given enough evidence from Allemand’s chemical blood test.

Stensaas in his own filings has called that assertion false — or at least refuted by his email records with Vang’s office.

Vang did not show for the July 8 hearing where Kisling had planned to weigh these 

Cowboy State Daily had contacted Vang by phone the night prior, July 7, to ask whether the hearing was still set. 

Vang said he was unaware of the hearing, could not attend, and would file a “motion for continuance,” which is a rescheduling request. 

He confirmed he was on the record during that phone call by adding, “and that’s my comment.”

No motion for continuance of that hearing appears in the public court file.

Kisling issued an order July 8 saying Vang’s “failure to appear may constitute a failure to comply with a lawful order of the court and may warrant the imposition of sanctions and indirect contempt of court.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kisling ordered Vang to appear for a hearing at 4 p.m. Wednesday."}]

Vang wrote back in a motion, saying he and Allemand “did not intentionally fail to appear” for the July 8 hearing and that Vang “inadvertently failed to notice” the July 8 hearing setting at the bottom of the judge’s earlier order, so he failed to put it in his calendar.

Vang asked the court to reschedule his contempt hearing from July 15 to some other date.

He said he can’t attend Wednesday because he has a 3 p.m. hearing in Albany County’s Laramie Circuit Court. 

Kisling checked that assertion and, according to a July 10 order by the magistrate, found it incorrect.

“Court staff in Johnson County contacted Albany County Circuit Court to confirm a setting for Mr. Vang on that date,” wrote Kisling. “The court docket in Albany County does not have a scheduled hearing for Mr. Vang at the time asserted in Mr. Vang’s motion.”

[{"type":"text","text":"So Kisling denied Vang’s request to reschedule."}]

Later that day, Vang submitted a filing saying he’d had another issue with his calendar.

He attached a scheduling order from June 9 that showed he had been set to appear in Laramie Circuit Court on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m

 Vang acknowledged that the 2:30 hearing has since been rescheduled. 

But, he said, he hadn’t taken the original setting off his calendar when he’d originally protested the schedule conflict to Kisling.  

“Again, Mr. Vang did not intentionally file information to mislead the court, and simply still had a hearing date on his calendar that had been reset for a later date,” says Vang’s motion. 

Criminal contempt charges against attorneys are uncommon but 

[{"type":"text","text":"They’re different from civil contempt charges. "}]

In a civil contempt case, a judge penalizes someone to make him honor an order. In criminal contempt charges, the judge is punishing someone for having already disrespected the court.

[{"type":"text","text":"Vang declined Tuesday to comment."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Body Camera Is Out"}]

In the same motion in which Vang had urged Kisling to reschedule the contempt hearing, Vang also asked Kisling to address two actions by “the state” that Vang calls problematic.

Firstly, Vang took issue with Stensaas “(accusing) Mr. Vang of making false representations to the court as it relates to … the litigation support package.”

Vang continues to assert that Stensaas is depriving the defense of important evidence about Allemand’s chemical blood test, which 

Stensaas has maintained that Vang has received 72 pages of chemical test evidence and questioned why Vang says he only received 24 pages.

 to demand answers from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on why it released the 

The sheriff’s office released that video to Cowboy State Daily pursuant to the outlet’s public records request days after Kisling barred 12 minutes of that recording from entering the trial.

Kisling found that for about 12 minutes of Allemand’s traffic stop and arrest, Johnson County Deputy Caleb

confined Allemand without mirandizing him, and had asked potentially incriminating questions.

Campbell was justified in confining Allemand in handcuffs during the traffic stop: he found a gun near Allemand and had officer safety concerns, wrote Kisling in his suppression order. 

But the potentially incriminating questions Campbell asked Allemand while he was confined — and not 

irandized — can’t be part of the state’s main evidence pool at trial, Kisling ruled.

Officers must give a person his Miranda rights before asking him incriminating questions, if the person is confined.

Kisling did not put a wholesale gag order on the prosecutor’s office or sheriff’s office, though he did bar those 12 minutes of video from the trial.

[{"type":"text","text":"Vang says the sheriff’s office’s release was improper."}]

“Unfortunately, potential jurors have now been exposed to evidence that this court suppressed, which has tainted the potential jury panel,” wrote Vang in his motion.

about a potentially compromised jury became part of

 another recent high-profile criminal case of Sublette County wolf abuser Cody Roberts. 

In that case, then-District Court Judge Richard Lavery addressed those worries by planning a lengthy, voluminous jury selection in a larger-sized library building. But Lavery didn’t have to do that in the end 

Johnson County Attorney Tucker Ruby did not respond by publication to a voicemail request for comment on Vang’s 

Body camera video is public record, but with caveats. State law says keepers of body camera video generally should not release it, but they can release it either:

[{"type":"text","text":"• to the person in the video,"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• in the case of deadly force or serious bodily injury,"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• in response to a complaint against law enforcement, or"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• in the interest of public safety."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Allemand’s DUI case is ongoing."}]

Allemand 7 14 26

<title>Judge May Hit Allemand’s Defense Lawyer With Contempt Charge For Missing Hearing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The judge in state Rep. Bill Allemand's ongoing DUI case may hit his defense attorney with a contempt charge for missing a hearing. The attorney says he “did not intentionally fail to appear” and calls the no-show a scheduling mishap.

Judge May Hit Allemand’s Defense Lawyer With Contempt Charge For Missing Hearing

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner has brought his opponent’s dad into the fiery race for the GOP nomination to U.S. House.  

Rasner is running against nine other Republican candidates for the GOP nomination to Wyoming’s lone House seat, which the incumbent Rep. Harriet Hageman is leaving to vie for the Senate.

From about Friday through Monday, Rasner’s political Facebook page showcased screenshots that depict Jan Charles Gray – who is the father of one of Rasner’s opponents, Secretary of State Chuck Gray – reacting to Rasner’s posts with heart-face and fire emojis.

“Chuck Gray’s Dad Supports Reid,” says a banner attached to one of the posts.

One screenshot shows what appears to be Jan Charles Gray’s Facebook page giving a heart-face emoji at 1:37 a.m., about May 13, to one of Rasner’s reels.

Another screenshot shows a message, blurred in the screenshot but which Rasner identified in a Monday video as the elder Gray’s email address. That screenshot depicts a fire emoji from Jan Charles Gray at 9:29 a.m. about June 2.

[{"type":"text","text":"Did Not Confirm Or Deny"}]

Jan Charles Gray, in a brief Monday phone interview, did not deny or confirm leaving the Facebook reactions, but voiced emphatic support for his son.

“Clearly I support my son, Chuck Gray, 100% - and he’s going to win,” said the elder Gray. “Reid Rasner is a very troubled individual. Chuck Gray for Congress.”

Rasner’s team did not respond to a text message request for an interview, for the original screenshots, or for confirmation of a different claim Rasner made Monday.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"More Unhinged Nonsense\""}]

Chuck Gray called Rasner’s provocation “more unhinged nonsense from Reid Rasner, who will say anything to get elected, no matter how absurd or wrong.”

“If Reid keeps acting like a child, Reid's mom, who has been funding his campaign, should cut off his allowance and take away his phone,” Gray continued.

Conversely, Gray’s father has been a major donor to Gray’s House campaign, and funded nearly all of his secretary of state campaign in 2022.

“This is absurd and not a serious story, and no serious reporter should pretend otherwise,” said Gray, who claimed that Cowboy State Daily has “been influenced by Reid buying advertising from them” and “insiders who fund their entire operation.”

Rasner has not advertised with Cowboy State Daily in more than five months. His ads contract expired Jan. 31, Cowboy State Daily’s advertising department said Monday.

[{"type":"text","text":"Chuck Gray, Grocery PAC, Feinstein"}]

Jan Charles Gray is politically active. He'd given $3,500 to Chuck Gray’s campaign as of March 31.

The father funded nearly all of his son’s brief 2022 U.S. House run and gave him $500,000, 95% of his total funding for what became his secretary of state campaign,

Jan Charles Gray also gave $500 to the campaign of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of California, in 1994, and more than $2,000 to a grocery company PAC in the 1990s, his Federal Election Commission filings show.

Chuck Gray and Rasner face eight more contenders for the GOP nomination: State Senate President Bo Biteman, philanthropist Steve Friess, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, veteran and former congressional staffer David Giralt, Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen, former legislator Keith Goodenough, Teton County rancher Frank Chapman and Richard Dodson. 

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<title>Gray Calls Rasner ‘A Child' For Bringing His Dad Into Fiery GOP Primary Race | Cowboy State Daily</title>

GOP congressional candidate Chuck Gray derided primary opponent Reid Rasner after he brought Gray’s father into the campaign by saying "Chuck Gray’s Dad Supports Reid.” Gray called it “More unhinged nonsense from Reid Rasner.” 

Gray Calls Rasner ‘A Child' For Bringing His Dad Into Fiery GOP Primary Race

Native American Tribes

[{"type":"text","text":"Tribe Tells Christian Church To Leave Reservation; Church Says No "}]

Northern Arapaho Tribal leaders told a Christian pastor who said "a pipe cannot hear your prayers" to leave their reservation. The pastor said she's staying, and won't apologize for preaching from the Bible. 

The Northern Arapaho Tribe’s executive branch has asked a Christian church to leave the reservation, the tribe’s chair said Friday.

In response, Foundations for Nations pastor Sarah Lucas told Cowboy State Daily she and her family aren’t planning to leave yet. They’re looking to legal solutions to stay – and hoping for a “revival” in the meantime, Lucas said.

The church, which has operated in Fremont County for nine years, sits within the borders of the Wind River Indian Reservation, but it’s on a parcel of private, not tribal, land.

The controversy erupted eight days ago when Lucas discouraged some tribal faith practices during a church service, just as the tribe finished its Sundance ceremonies. She had said, “a pipe cannot hear your prayers,” and “we know that Jesus is enough.”

. Northern Arapaho Tribal members were furious at what they cast as an insult to their “grandfather pipe” – a revered relic associated with the Arapaho creation story.

Protests unfolded at the Riverton City Hall and at the Foundations for Nations church site in the town of Arapahoe.

“I want a public apology from them,” said Northern Arapaho Business Council Chair Keenan Groesbeck during a 

 last Tuesday. He stood in front of a yellow tape line that stretched across the church’s driveway. 

[{"type":"text","text":"He said Lucas’ message was disrespectful."}]

“If they don’t want to apologize to us, they can leave,” said Groesbeck. 

Protestors joined in a traditional chant as honks and whoops sounded from passing vehicles.

Lucas went to a meeting with tribal leaders Friday. She said the council allowed its “Four Old Men” elder group to join the meeting, and leaders discussed the importance of the pipe relic and told her to leave.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lucas described the meeting as unprofessional."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Groesbeck took to Facebook about two hours later."}]

“Just so everyone knows. We told Foundations For Nations and Sarah Lucas they got to go. We ain’t putting up with their bullshit,” says Groesbeck’s Friday post. “

Groesbeck could not be reached for comment by publication. Nor could the other council members except for Sami Dresser, who declined to comment.

The tribe’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by publication.

Lucas told Cowboy State Daily she won’t apologize for preaching from the Bible, though she wishes to apologize “that it came off as an attack.”

“But I am a Christian preacher. I am a pastor and I preach the full counsel of God’s word,” she said. 

Lucas said she’s not against the sun dance altogether: she supports fasting and praying as a whole concept. But she understands the ceremony also involves “the worship of the pipe,” she said, adding that’s idolatry, and irreconcilable with the teaching that “Jesus is the only way.”

She pointed to the divisive messages the Bible attributes to Jesus, and the persecution and martyrdom his followers suffered.

“You could take everything from me but you can’t take my God,” said Lucas. “I’m willing to be martyred for the faith. I’ve counted the cost.”

She voiced mild surprise at the current outrage, saying community members have maligned Jesus and biblical teaching to her for years and she hasn’t retaliated. 

Regarding the tribal community, Lucas said she loves them and wants to maintain a forgiving posture. She referenced the high suicide, poverty, and addiction rates of the reservation. And she reiterated part of the same message that sparked this clash.

“Only Jesus can turn a life around, can deliver somebody, can set somebody free,” she said, adding that she’s called to preach that and is “more concerned with eternity, than I am about earthly hate.”

Lucas said people have been “twisting” her family’s message, casting their work as a grift and slandering them. She countered, noting that she did not take a salary for the church’s first several years, and that she’s now at about $25,000 annually. Her husband has worked two jobs in the past to pay their bills, she said.

She rebutted other rumors about harms to kids in the church’s sizable kids’ program, saying “All these lies are making the kids in our program feel unsafe. And that just hurts.”

Lucas indicated her family isn’t ready to leave the reservation. She said she wants to see people’s hearts changed.

“They might be mad for now, but I believe the supernatural power of God is going to turn this around,” said Lucas. “We don’t obey man. We obey God.”

She said she and her family are working with an attorney to remain on their parcel. They’re also weathering death threats, according to multiple screenshots Lucas sent Cowboy State Daily.

The outlet reached out to the FBI late Monday and will update this story when the agency comments.

Special church events are suspended for now, but church is scheduled for each Sunday as usual, Lucas said, adding that some kids still want to come to youth group, and some parents have been asking when the church will start youth group again.

The church runs a philanthropic food pantry, which closed early last week.  

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Why Are They Trying To Save Us?’"}]

Chris Friday, a tribal member who has helped to coordinate multiple protests, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that the question of whether the Lucases and church must leave the reservation “Now (is) probably going to involve the courts.”

Friday helped organize another protest outside the church during its Sunday service, which occurred on schedule. He said church attendees were seen “carrying around guns.”

Lucas confirmed this in her own interview, as she referenced the death threats.

“There’s people protesting there all the time,” said Friday, regarding the church. “Just, what they said, man. It hurts us as Arapaho people. Makes us seem like we’re lower than them, that their way is better than ours.”

Friday defended the Arapaho prayer traditions, saying they go back generations, and non-tribal members have often tried to observe them without permission.

“Why are they interested in us so much? Why are they trying to save us? I don’t know. We don’t need any saving or anything; we didn’t ask for them,” said Friday. “They should just take the hint and leave – respectfully of course. Go back to where you were.”

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which Arapaho and other tribal leaders signed along with the U.S. government, says any “bad men among the whites” or other people who “commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians” shall be, “upon proof” handed to the federal government for arrest and punishment according to the nation’s laws. The offender shall “also reimburse the injured persons for the loss sustained,” the treaty says.

Friday referenced the clause as a potential avenue for barring the Lucases from the reservation.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s uncertain whether the tribe would win such a case."}]

Some tribes invoked it against the federal government in litigation regarding pharmaceutical companies’ marketing and sale of opioid drugs to tribal members. That claim failed because the tribes “(failed) to allege a ‘wrong’ cognizable under the treaty,” says a Dec. 9, 2020, 

 of Federal Claims, and the opioid company hadn’t come onto the reservation to commit some wrong.

Friday noted in his interview that tribal land surrounds the Foundations for Nations private land parcel. He wondered aloud if the tribe could block the Lucases’ access, but said “I don’t know how that would really work. It would probably have to go through the court.”

[{"type":"text","text":"More From That Church Service"}]

Lucas’ full sermon was unavailable at least as of Monday. The one-minute, 38-second clip that went viral last week depicts Lucas paraphrasing from the Bible: “tear down the altars, tear down the idols.”

She spoke of “this nation” gathering in recent days, praying. The tribal members had just conducted their sun dance ceremony.

“They prayed to pipes and they prayed to the ancestors, believing this is the way for their freedom. To get free from addiction, for people to be healed … this is what this culture did this week,” said Lucas.

[{"type":"text","text":"She urged the congregation to pray."}]

“Because we know that Jesus is enough. He’s enough. It’s not Jesus-plus. It’s Jesus everything. He’s everything,” said Lucas.

She referenced people she described as tribal members who have become Christians.

“And they understand the price … when they say that publicly. The persecution that can come with them publicly,” Lucas said. “But they know that this is it. Jesus is the chain breaker. He’s the only one that we should be praying to. A pipe cannot hear your prayers.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Because Of This Dark History"}]

Northern Arapaho Tribal leaders have told a Christian church to leave the reservation after the pastor preached "a pipe cannot hear your prayers.'  The pastor said she's staying, and won't apologize for preaching that "Jesus is the only way."

You Still Here? Wednesday, May 1, 2024

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