CHEYENNE — U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith said he has a message for anyone planning to bring illegal drugs into the state for distribution: “I want you to literally throw up thinking about the consequences.”
Smith conducted a press conference Friday to announce that all of the defendants in a major drug-trafficking ring responsible for distributing 23 pounds of methamphetamine and other drugs in five Wyoming counties have now been prosecuted.
The leader of the drug ring, Smith said, was Denny Jason Shrove of Rawlins, 48, who was sentenced Sept. 14 to 18 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
“That’s a big sentence,” Smith said.
He added that all seven of the federal prisoners will not be eligible for parole.
“They’ll serve every bit of their sentence behind bars,” Smith said.
Weekly Trips to Colorado
Smith said Shrove made at least weekly runs to Colorado to obtain dangerous drugs and bring them back to Wyoming for distribution by his co-conspirators.
Ron Cox of the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation called this “the final chapter” for a drug ring that targeted communities and threatened the lives of Wyomingites.
At the press conference were representatives of many of the federal, state, and county agencies that participated in the joint effort. Shrove was the first to be arrested, on Jan. 23, 2025.
Cox said Wyoming law enforcement quickly determined that many more people were involved in the operation, which spread across Albany, Campbell, Carbon, Laramie and Natrona counties.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the street value of the drugs seized was estimated at $325,000.
“We were empowered at every level to go after these bad actors and get them off our streets,” Smith said.
Authorities seized approximately 1,429.7 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl pills weighing 25.3 grams, heroin totaling 67.5 grams, 16.4 grams of cocaine, plus fentanyl powder, psilocybin mushrooms, and marijuana.
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken said the investigation, like all such probes, focused on the major players, then tried to round up the rest of the members.
He said about 30 people were prosecuted at the state level, while the top of the hierarchy went to federal court.
All Pleaded Guilty
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Griswold, who prosecuted all of the federal cases, told Cowboy State Daily, “My job was actually easy. All of them pleaded guilty, so there were no trials. The mountain of evidence investigators discovered was overwhelming.”
He said the U.S. District Attorney’s Office got involved when investigators planned to use wiretaps, and wanted to make sure they were gathering evidence legally.
In addition to Shrove, these are the sentences handed down for the other six co-conspirators: Jordan Burke, of Casper, 8 years; Alysha Dahl, of Casper, 12 years and 2.5 months; Bryan Hackleman, of Casper, 15 years and 5 months; Gregory McCoy, of Casper, 11 years; Nicole Phipps, of Salida, Colorado, 11 years; and Cainen Taylor, of Rawlins, 12 years and 8 months.
All of the sentences included an additional five years of supervised release.
In addition to the DCI, the Drug Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security led the effort.
Smith had a final word for anyone who thinks they can get away with drug trafficking in Wyoming: “We are coming after you. We won’t stand for it.”
The prosecution was part of Operation Take Back, a Department of Justice initiative utilizing resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
