The police chief of a 200-person Wyoming town is facing criminal charges for alleged false swearing and lying to obtain a vehicle title.
Fort Laramie Police Chief Michael Evan Staiger, 35, faces two felonies: false swearing, which is punishable by up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine; and making a false statement to obtain a title, which is punishable by up to two years in jail and $5,000.
Staiger was still the town’s police chief at the time he was stopped by the Wyoming Highway Patrol in December, but it’s unclear if he is still the police chief.
Fort Bridger Mayor Ryon Brown did not return a Cowboy State Daily request for comment.
Staiger did not respond by publication time to a social media message request for comment. His attorney, Cole Sherard, also did not return a Friday morning request for comment.
The Goshen County Sheriff’s Office, for which Staiger served as a deputy prior to being Fort Laramie’s police chief, declined to comment.
Staiger’s preliminary hearing is set for May 19 in Torrington Circuit Court.
For this case, the Goshen County Commissioners appointed an out-of-county special prosecutor April 15. Laramie County Assistant District Attorney Jacob Steers charged Staiger in a May 7 filing.
The Stop
Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Stroud pulled Staiger over the evening of Dec. 8 on Highway 85 in Goshen County driving a red Chevy Cobalt 85 mph, says an affidavit by Stroud.
The Cobalt’s plate didn’t match the vehicle, “and the sales tax requirement for the purchase of this vehicle had never been met,” Stroud added.
The plate on the Cobalt instead was associated with a 2000 Chevy Camaro, pewter in color, he wrote.
“(I) asked why he had not corrected the registration issue,” the trooper recalled.
Over the following days, Stroud contacted the Goshen County treasurer to ask if the tax had been paid on the Cobalt. There was no proof in her office it had, but just be sure, Stroud would have to contact every county treasurer in Wyoming, the affidavit relates from the treasurer’s response.
A county employee ran a search on the Cobalt’s VIN, which showed that the last time the vehicle had been titled was in Minnesota on May 19, 2010, the affidavit says.
Stroud reached five more county treasurers, who didn’t find proof of a tax being paid on the Cobalt. On Dec. 13, he emailed the remaining 17 county treasurers of Wyoming, and none could find proof of sales tax for the vehicle, he wrote.
On Dec. 19, the affidavit says, Staiger entered the Goshen County Treasurer’s Office in Torrington and provided a bill of sale for the Cobalt, which showed a sale price of $1,000 and the seller’s name — but the bill of sale wasn’t dated, Stroud wrote.
The purchase date was written twice, with one iteration of it very clear, covering up another date and bearing the initials marking “MS,” says the document.
Interview
Stroud interviewed the Cobalt’s seller Jan. 29 and asked who bought the Cobalt from him.
All he could remember was that it was a deputy from Wyoming, the document relates, adding that the seller said the sale price was $10,000, and the sale date was Oct. 5, 2020.
Staiger had paid $52.50 in sales tax to the Goshen County treasurer, but if the Cobalt was sold for $10,000 he should have paid $257.25, the affidavit adds.
Staiger’s file indicates that he was booked into the jail but released on a signature bond.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
