Campbell County authorities are accusing a Gillette, Wyoming, man of denying that his ex-wife’s $7,300 sports-betting winnings were accidentally deposited into his bank account and not hers.
Casey Lawrence, who turns 34 this year, maintains that he’s innocent of the one felony theft charge he faces in Campbell County District Court, Lawrence’s attorney Steven Titus told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
“At this point, Mr. Lawrence absolutely claims his innocence and we look forward to explaining his innocence in front of 12 people here in the near future,” said Titus, referencing a jury trial.
The attorney said he doesn’t yet have all of the evidence that the state may have against his client, adding that in Wyoming, prosecutors don’t have to give the defense all the evidence until the defendant is arraigned.
Lawrence has not yet been arraigned. His case rose from the lower Gillette Circuit Court to the felony-level Campbell County District Court on Friday.
“We’re very excited to have our day in court,” said Titus.
Court Documents
Gillette Police Department Officer Louis Bustos was dispatched April 15 to meet with Lawrence’s ex-wife at the department, according to an evidentiary affidavit in the case.
The woman said she won $7,300 on sports betting site DraftKings on Oct. 3, 2023, and that she’d accidentally allowed her winnings to transfer into Casey Lawrence’s checking account.
The two used to share the account as a joint holding, but her name was taken off of it amid their 2022 divorce, the affidavit says.
The ex-wife texted Lawrence on Oct. 10, asking if he received a deposit from DraftKings in that account.
“No, I don’t have your money. We get it, you won 10K, congratulations,” he texted back, according to the affidavit.
The document says a tense back-and-forth followed in which Lawrence declined to help his ex-wife with the issue, saying he didn’t have that account anymore and maintained that Wells Fargo wouldn’t let him access the account.
All Other Options
The ex-wife went to the police department Jan. 31, saying she’d exhausted all her other options.
On April 16, Bustos obtained a search warrant for the account, and downloaded files showing recent activity on the account, the affidavit says.
Bustos confirmed that on Oct. 3, the account received a $7,300 deposit from DraftKings with the ex-wife’s name in the deposit’s description, the officer wrote in the affidavit.
Someone transferred the $7,300 two days later into a savings account with Lawrence’s name on it, the document says.
The Interview
Bustos asked Lawrence to come to the police department April 28 for a non-custodial interview.
Larence said his ex-wife’s allegations were recurring since September or October, but that these were nonsense and a “crazy fantasy.”
“It’s awful, like, I’m really annoyed that I’m taking time away from my family today to still entertain this nonsense,” he said, according to the affidavit.
Bustos wrote in the affidavit that Lawrence had told police prior that the account was closed. The officer reminded Lawrence of that during their interview, the affidavit says.
Bustos pressed Lawrence, asking him to confirm that the money in question never went into any account to which he has access.
“Nope,” said Lawrence, the affidavit relates.
Bustos left the room to retrieve the documents from his search warrant. He showed them to Lawrence.
The affidavit says Lawrence then said he hadn’t actually closed the account yet.
Bustos also showed the deposit of $7,300 into Lawrence’s savings account, says the document.
Lawrence’s hands started to shake violently, Bustos wrote, adding that Lawrence then said he doesn’t keep an eagle eye on his account.
The case is ongoing.
Felony theft is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Lawrence does not appear to have been charged with a felony in Wyoming before, however, which could make a maximum sentence unlikely if he’s convicted.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
