A reporter from southeastern Wyoming submitted forged documents and lied about her credentials during state permitting proceedings through which she opposed a controversial wind farm project, court documents allege.
April Marie Morganroth, 40, who also has listed aliases of April Marie Hamilton and April Marie McClellan, now faces 10 felonies in Wheatland Circuit Court. If convicted, she could face up to 65 years in prison and $65,000 in fines.
The name Morganroth uses as a journalist in her byline is Marie Hamilton, which is also listed in the case’s criminal affidavit.
Hamilton is the publisher of the short-lived Wyoming Sentinel, a startup publication that has been inactive since late last year that covered Platte, Goshen and Laramie counties. Hamilton also has worked as a freelancer for Wyoming outlets.
Platte County Deputy Attorney Marel Bunker Roth charged Hamilton on Monday in Wheatland Circuit Court. If the court finds probable cause to back the charges during Hamilton’s March 18 preliminary hearing, it will ascend to the Platte County District Court for a potential trial.
Investigators allege Hamilton, objecting to a wind farm project a state panel was reviewing, submitted forged documents including letters purporting to be from a doctor and teacher; in an effort to sway state officials. Investigators also said Hamilton lied about her credentials and that she was a property owner near the project.
Converse County Sheriff’s Investigator Benjamin Peech wrote in a March 9 evidentiary affidavit, now filed in Wheatland Circuit Court, that his undersheriff assigned him and Investigator Amber Peterson to help the Platte County Attorney’s Office investigate allegations of forgery and perjury, relating to a multi-day administrative hearing.
Hamilton could not be reached for comment Friday, as Cowboy State Daily left a voicemail with her phone. Her court record shows the public defender's office is being assigned to her case: that office has declined for years to comment on ongoing cases. It did not immediately return a late-day voicemail Friday.
The Project
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Council, whose administrative arm is the Industrial Siting Division, heard testimony in November and December 2025 regarding whether NextEra Energy Resources could gain a permit to build a wind farm in the Chugwater area.
It’s been a controversial topic in Platte County. Disputes about the wind project also led to a citizen complaint for Gov. Mark Gordon to investigate and push for the removal of all three Platte County Commissioners.
But, citing concerns over some dubious and some untrue claims in that complaint, Gordon declined Feb. 25 to act upon it.
Hamilton submitted exhibits to the Industrial Siting Division (ISD) for the hearings.
Three exhibits, titled Exhibits J, K, and L, Hamilton asked the division to admit under seal since they concerned her children.
One was a letter allegedly authored by Dr. Aaron Meng, and the other two were documents allegedly authored by Laramie County School District No. 1 teacher Audrey Adams.
Hamilton called them true documents and spoke about them at length, Peech recounted in his affidavit.
But Marianne Shanor, the attorney representing NextEra, called Wyoming Attorney General supervisory attorney Greg Weisz the night of Nov. 20, saying she believed the documents might be forgeries.
The council held an executive session Nov. 21 to review the three exhibits.
Hamilton asserted they were true documents authored by Meng and Adams, says the affidavit, adding that Hamilton also said Meng and Adams would call into the hearing later.
The affidavit says Hamilton testified under oath at this hearing.
Letters Face Scrutiny
Meng and Adams did not call into the hearing, says the affidavit.
Around Thanksgiving, Weisz and his paralegal assistant Carrie Mays contacted the supposed authors of the exhibits, who both denied having written them, the affidavit says.
Both provided documentation denying they’d written the documents, Peech added.
One final portion of the wind permitting hearing was set for Dec. 29.
Hamilton asked to withdraw as a party to the proceedings, and she asked to withdraw the three exhibits, but Weisz objected, since the exhibits had drawn testimony from her and the members of the Industrial Siting Council had viewed them.
Peech confirmed essentially this same series of allegations by interviewing Industrial Siting Division administrator Jenny Staeben, his affidavit says.
Staeben furnished more details as well.
She said that ahead of the hearing, Hamilton had claimed to own a property on JJ Road in Chugwater, which Peech would later confirm belongs to someone else, the affidavit says.
Staeben reportedly said Hamilton claimed her address was required by federal law to be kept confidential since she’s a reporter.
Hamilton asserted that she was enrolled at the University of Wyoming law school and was working on her law degree, that she had a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a PhD in journalism from Arizona State University, that she owned the Hamilton/Geiss brand in Wyoming, and that she operated various family ranching businesses in several states — the affidavit relates from Staeben’s account.
Staeben said she kept the confidential exhibits in a safe at her office.
At the hearing Dec. 29, Weisz told the council in a public hearing that he’d obtained documentation that the people Hamilton had claimed authored the exhibits, did not author the exhibits.
Cowboy State Daily reported on that hearing. Hamilton told the outlet afterward that the Industrial Siting Division had ignored her attempts to show the documents’ origin.
She also claimed the agency violated her child’s privacy by airing some of their contents during the authenticity debate.
Weisz at the Dec. 29 hearing did not go into detail as to the documents’ health claims. He denied Cowboy State Daily’s request for the documents, noting they were under seal.
Investigator’s Search For Identity
Peech wrote in the affidavit that a Spectrum bill dated May 13, 2023, linked Hamilton to an address in Cheyenne.
He also wrote that an April Marie McClellan, which he listed as one of Hamilton’s alias names, was convicted of felony forgery in Arizona in 2008.
Peech wrote that he contacted the University of Wyoming and the personnel there told him “no person with any of the names had ever been enrolled in the University of Wyoming or University of Wyoming Law School.”
The Wyoming Brand Inspector’s office confirmed that there were no current or former brands under Hamilton’s name or aliases, Peech wrote.
An arrest warrant return document says “Morganroth” was arrested Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., pursuant to a March 3 warrant.
Work As Reporter
The Wyoming Sentinel, the online publication for which Hamilton is listed as the publisher, has not published any news stories in more than three months. She has previously written for the Platte County Record Times.
Over the last few months, Hamilton has been writing for the Oil City News with her most recent story having been published last week.
She wrote many stories about the state legislative session, which ended last week.
Oil City News managing editor Klark Byrd told Cowboy State Daily in a Friday interview that Hamilton was on a freelance contract.
"All her stories were double-checked by me before we published, and verified with legislative videos as they went live on YouTube," said Byrd. "And that was her only work for us." That work spanned from Feb. 10 to March 6, he said.
Once Oil City management learned of her arrest, said Byrd, "we terminated the freelance contract."
More About That Hearing
The proposed build by NextEra Energy Resources is a 300-megawatt wind energy, 150 megawatt solar and 150 megawatt battery storage system (BESS) facility slated for a Platte County parcel east of Chugwater and Interstate 25.
The council approved the permit after hours of testimony Dec. 29, and amid locals’ concerns over the potential health risks of living near turbines, the potential to kill eagles, incursions on wildlife corridors by the solar project, and the chance that the BESS could rupture and pollute the groundwater, or suffer a thermal runaway.
The council added conditions for groundwater quality monitoring, and a greater distance between wind towers and a concerned resident's home.
The Tally
The counts filed against Hamilton are as follows:
Three counts of possession of forged writings, punishable by up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines;
Three counts of forgery, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines;
Four counts of perjury, each punishable by up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
