to get the money to bail yourself out.
“We want to do a PSA to educate our criminals on how to raise money for bond,” Kozak says in a video he posted Friday morning with Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Aaron Veldheer.
He then goes on to tell a convoluted story of a suspected local drug trafficking ring that involves multiple suspects and culminates with the arrest of a suspected major drug supplier to Cheyenne from Denver.
“They were all buying their drugs from that one source in Denver,” Kozak told Cowboy State Daily. “Usually, our detectives will get onto somebody like that just through different ways of gathering intelligence.”
In this case, one of those ways was listening in on jail phone calls, something inmates know deputies do, and it’s even prominently posted in the detention center to remind them, he said.
That they would openly plan how to fence stolen goods and sell drugs to get money to bond another accused drug dealer out of jail is another entry for the dumb criminals list, the sheriff said.
Even after 40 years in law enforcement, Kozak said criminals can still do things he hasn’t seen before.
“Yeah, I am surprised every day by the dumb things people do,” he said. “This is one, you know, people stealing things and selling drugs to raise bond money.”
The Web Begins
What led up to local residents Christopher Butterfield and Jahmela Banks taking items stolen in Wyoming to Denver to sell to bail out Edward McGaha of Cheyenne — another suspected drug dealer — is a tangled web that leads to their alleged Denver supplier, Kozak explains.
It started with a bust in June 2025 “when our narcotic detectives began tailing Terry Schoolcraft of Cheyenne as he allegedly purchased narcotics from a source in Denver with the (alleged) intent to deliver those drugs in Cheyenne,” the sheriff said.
While watching Schoolcraft, detectives also observed McGaha as “he purchased drugs from the same source.”
Because Laramie County detectives are also sworn as DEA agents, they can go into Colorado with their investigations, Kozak said.
They arrested McGaha on Sept. 5 as he left the Denver source loaded with illegal drugs, he said.
The officers “seized 500 blues — which is a street term for fentanyl pills,” he said. “They also found heroin (and) crack with the intent to distribute in Wyoming.”
Four days later on Sept. 9, Schoolcraft was arrested with suspected fentanyl and meth.
That Denver Source
Now that Denver source was on their radar, Kozak said.
“Detectives continued to watch the Denver source and witnessed Christopher Butterfield, and also Miss Banks — also from Cheyenne — purchase drugs,” he said in the video.
“Detectives also learned that Banks and Butterfield were fencing stolen items in Denver and selling drugs to allegedly pay for McGaha’s bond, who is still sitting in our jail,” he added.
Banks and Butterfield were arrested Sept. 24 with a load of suspected illegal drugs, including 140 blues, crack, and heroin, the sheriff said. They also were wanted out of Albany County on suspicion of theft.
By watching this small gang of Wyoming people allegedly supplied by the same source, investigators were able to identify Brian Brandt as the Denver hook-up and got an arrest and search warrant for him on Oct. 9.
“Now he is in the Denver jail on those charges, and will be extradited to Wyoming to face charges of conspiracy to deliver narcotics when the Colorado offenses have been adjudicated,” Kozak said.
Still One On The Loose
While Laramie County detectives were at Brandt’s home in Denver executing their warrant, they learned Schoolcraft “had been released from our jail, was on bond, and was en route (to Denver) to get more drugs from the source.
“They watched as Schoolcraft … entered the house with the intent to purchase drugs to deliver to Wyoming — while on bond for the same thing.”
Now Schoolcraft has another charge, conspiracy to deliver controlled substances to Wyoming.
“And congratulations,” Kozak said. “He has made our most wanted list. Yep, if you know where Schoolcraft is, please give us a call.”
He stands out, the sheriff said, with tattoos on his neck.
While all the suspects have their own charges, they know each other through their association with the same suspected drug supplier in Denver, Kozak said.
He also said that while the feedback he gets on his weekly video crime updates is mostly positive, not all are fans.
“I do get some calls sometimes from their mothers, saying I wasn’t very nice to their kids,” Kozak said.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
