A Wyoming state lawmaker pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving drunk in Buffalo in late December, and was sentenced to probation and a $500 fine.
Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, took a plea agreement offered by Johnson County Deputy Attorney Joshua Stensaas, and gave his guilty plea in Buffalo Circuit Court at a Wednesday hearing.
He was arrested Dec. 28 in Buffalo. Stensaas has said Allemand’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.24%. That figure is contested, Buffalo Circuit Court Magistrate Judge Jeremy Kisling noted during the Wednesday hearing.
A flurry of disputes over the chemical blood test were still in play when Allemand’s case settled.
Kisling sentenced Allemand to 90 days in jail — less the two he served when arrested — but suspended that sentence in favor of one year of unsupervised probation.
That means Allemand has a year of probation ahead of him, and if he fails probation, he may be sentenced to the remaining 88 days in jail.
For the first six months’ probation Allemand is required to submit to chemical testing between once and twice a month. He could be tested upon a law enforcement officer’s reasonable articulable suspicion as well, Kisling noted.
Under probation, Allemand is also required to stay out of bars and liquor stores, not violate any laws, complete his counseling or treatment as recommended, and pay his fines and fees.
Kisling fined Allemand $500 but said he’d credit up to $200 upon a showing that Allemand had purchased a treatment evaluation as required.
Kisling imposed other costs and fees: $70 in court costs, $150 for victim’s crime compensation fund, and $50 for the drug court surcharge.
Stensaas had recommended those terms, except he left the potential jail sentence length open to the judge’s discretion.
Both the prosecutor and the magistrate said they were working to treat this case like any other first-time DUI featuring a high blood-alcohol concentration.
“Mr. Allemand I know there’s been a lot of to-do around this, and at the end of the day this court ignores the to-do,” said Kisling, adding that he’s treating this case like others of its nature.
He said he wishes Allemand luck, recognizes he’s working on the alcohol issue.
“Continue to maintain that sobriety… and put this behind you,” said Kisling.
Allemand did not give a speech when it was his chance.
He did not immediately respond to a late-day voicemail request for comment after the hearing.
Allemand is running against Bar Nunn Mayor Peter Boyer for the GOP nomination at the Aug. 18 primary election.
Next, The Lawyer
At the same hearing Wednesday, Allemand’s attorney Mike Vang pleaded not guilty to a separate charge alleging criminal contempt of court.
Kisling ordered Vang to appear in court Wednesday to answer why he missed a hearing that had been set for July 8, where Vang had been slated to argue his claims that the prosecutor deprived him of key evidence.
Stensaas has called those claims false. He recommended another contempt charge Wednesday due to the “heavy interplay” amid those claims, and said “that may be something that is filed.”
But Kisling said as far as the judge’s contempt action — which a court can advance — he’ll stick with a series of other issues he deemed problematic. Those were, according to Kisling:
• Vang appeared three minutes late and in a blue T-shirt for a January virtual hearing;
• Vang missed the July 8 in-person-only hearing;
• When asking to reschedule his July 15 contempt hearing, Vang cited a conflicting hearing in Albany County’s Laramie Circuit Court that was not actually set;
• Kisling had earlier issued an order telling counsel to be prepared and exercise due diligence in discovery, “but in summary, all orders would be taken seriously.”
Kisling noted that in light of a Wyoming Supreme Court case on these types of cases, he’d start a new criminal case, apart from Allemand’s case, for the contempt proceedings.
Vang said he’ll hire an attorney in this matter, and Kisling said he doesn’t need to set a bond for Vang.
“I can tell you I’ve never been in these shoes, so it’s not something I’ve dealt with," said Kisling, who had earlier said this action gives him “no pleasure.”
Vang had raised a protest in one of his motions, against the Johnson County Sheriff's Office's release of Deputy Caleb Campbell's body camera video of Allemand's arrest - days after Kisling ruled that 12 minutes of it couldn't be part of the prosecutor's main case.
That issue remains unsettled since Allemand's case is concluded.
Campbell had stopped Allemand on claims that after stopping at a stop sign just off Interstate 25, Allemand lurched forward, nearly hit another vehicle, then stopped abruptly.
This, coupled with the evidence that Allemand was the subject of a drunk driving report by another driver on the Interstate near Buffalo, made for enough evidence to justify Campbell’s stop, Kisling ruled earlier.
Campbell spotted a gun on Allemand's truck seat and handcuffed the man during the traffic stop over what he cast during a March court hearing as officer safety concerns.
That was appropriate, Kisling had ruled. But Campbell also asked Allemand potentially incriminating questions while Allemand was confined, but without having given Allemand his Miranda rights.
That's why those 12 minutes of video, spanning the time Allemand was confined but not Mirandized, could not be part of the prosecutor's main case at trial, Kisling ruled in June.
The Affidavit
Campbell’s affidavit says Allemand was driving a blue 2016 Toyota Tacoma with Wyoming plates, and that it was towed after the interaction.
The deputy wrote that Allemand had almost struck a vehicle approaching from the west, and that he’d abruptly stopped prior to impact.
When Campbell contacted Allemand, the deputy noted an open can of Michelob Ultra beer in the center console, a loaded pistol, and four more unopened beers on the front passenger seat, the document says.
Once Allemand was out of the car, Campbell observed what he described as:
• Glassed-over eyes
• Slurred speech
• Poor manual dexterity
• Poor balance
• Belligerent attitude
• Difficulty with instructions
• Slowness in responding to questions
• Incoherent speech/wording
• Loud speech/shouting
Allemand reported he’d had two knee replacements, added the deputy.
Sobriety Test
During a field sobriety test - which Allemand attempted after released from the handcuffs Campbell had reportedly applied for officer safety concerns - “driver lost balance multiple times and almost fell,” wrote Campbell. “At this time I stopped the test due to safety concerns for the driver.”
The document says Allemand was arrested and had “significant difficulty getting in and out of patrol vehicle requiring Deputy to support the driver as to not let him fall.”
Campbell wrote that he requested a magistrate-signed warrant for chemical testing.
Now in his second term, Allemand has served in the state Legislature since 2023. He is a member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and sits on the House's most powerful committee in terms of influencing the budget: House Appropriations.
He's also on the House Rules and Procedure Committee.
He has been a vocal opponent of government subsidies for a nuclear energy project whose company had been considering the Bar Nunn area for a facility.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
