A Wyoming trooper who stopped a Cheyenne man speeding along Interstate 80 immediately noticed something strange poking out from underneath the driver's butt.
It was a silver, cylindrical package.
Mathew Christopher Jacoby had a simple explanation: It was a burrito.
The trooper wasn't buying it.
Federal prosecutors later said Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Austin Barker was prepared to testify that, in thousands of traffic stops, he'd never seen anyone sit on their food while driving.
Barker's hunch was right. Federal court documents say the “burrito” contained nearly a pound of methamphetamine.
That roadside encounter has landed Jacoby, 58, in federal prison for 100 months — more than eight years — followed by four years of supervised release.
U.S. District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl sentenced Jacoby on Thursday for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesse Naiman.
What's That?
It started around 10:25 p.m. Dec. 8, 2025, along Interstate 80 east of Cheyenne.
Barker was sitting in his patrol vehicle when a silver four-door Saab blew past him at 95 mph in a 75 mph zone, according to the government's account of the stop.
Barker pulled out and stopped the Saab. Jacoby was alone behind the wheel.
Asked why he was going 20 mph over the speed limit, Jacoby told Barker he hadn't realized he was going that fast and that he'd recently gotten the car at an auction.
“What's that silver thing next to your knife?” Barker asked, according to federal court filings.
Jacoby appeared confused. Barker tried again, directing him toward the “silver ball” near his knife and hip.
The trooper described seeing a cylindrical package protruding from underneath Jacoby's right buttock.
After appearing hesitant, prosecutors allege, Jacoby said it was a burrito.
Barker wrote that his suspicions grew when Jacoby appeared hesitant and evasive about the package, which the trooper believed could contain drugs based on his training and experience investigating narcotics cases.
Things Aren't Adding Up
When Jacoby got into Barker's patrol vehicle, prosecutors say Barker noticed involuntary jaw movements and difficulty sitting still — behavior the trooper believed was consistent with stimulant use.
Then Barker began checking Jacoby's story.
The Saab's license plate wasn't registered to the Saab at all, prosecutors said.
Jacoby's purchase paperwork also showed he'd acquired the car in May 2025, not 30 to 45 days before the December stop — and Jacoby had another recent encounter with Laramie County law enforcement.
Less than three weeks earlier, on Nov. 21, deputies had stopped him while he was driving a 2004 Dodge Ram that had been reported stolen out of Denver.
Jacoby told investigators he'd bought that truck online for about $700 and produced a digital invoice.
A K-9 alerted on the truck, and a search turned up five suspected marijuana cigarettes, two THC vape pens and a glass pipe with burnt residue, according to an article prosecutors themselves later introduced as evidence in the federal case.
That case ended only five days before Barker stopped the Saab.
On Dec. 3, Jacoby pleaded no contest to a controlled-substance possession charge. He was sentenced to 103 days in jail, with 90 suspended and 13 days credited, along with a year of probation.
Among his probation conditions: He could not possess controlled substances and submit to random drug testing.
Bring The Dog
Back on the side of the road Dec. 8, Barker asked Jacoby whether there was anything in the Saab that shouldn't be there.
After advising Jacoby of his Miranda rights, Barker asked whether there were controlled substances inside.
Jacoby said no.
Then Barker asked for permission to search the Saab.
Jacoby refused. He told Barker he'd loaned the car to a friend and didn't know what she might have left inside, court records allege.
Barker called for a K-9.
While waiting for the dog, Barker continued working on the traffic citations. Jacoby then volunteered that he had some “blue pills” that were like Viagra, prosecutors said.
The K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics.
Troopers searched the Saab.
A photograph of the “burrito," later filed by prosecutors, shows a bulky, oblong package wrapped in layers of foil and plastic, peeled back to reveal a white substance inside.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says the package contained 446 grams of methamphetamine. Troopers also seized 14 grams of cocaine from the Saab.
After the "burrito" was seized, federal authorities obtained a warrant. On Jan. 30, 2026, Jacoby was stopped and arrested again.
This time, prosecutors say Jacoby threw multiple items from his vehicle, including three small zipper bags that contained a combined 17.4 grams of methamphetamine.
They also said investigators recovered messages from Jacoby's cellphone involving drug possession and distribution, including conversations dating to around Nov. 10, 2025.
In His Defense
Jacoby's attorney, Eric Palen, asked Skavdahl to throw out the evidence from the traffic stop, arguing Barker had improperly turned a speeding stop into a drug investigation without adequate reasonable suspicion.
The defense argued the silver object was visible, was “burrito shaped” and that Jacoby identified it as food once he understood what Barker was asking him about.
Palen also argued Jacoby effectively was in custody while sitting in Barker's patrol vehicle and was questioned about drugs before receiving a Miranda warning.
That included questions about when he'd last used drugs, whether he'd used drugs that night and why he was lying.
Jacoby's attorney asked the court to suppress the methamphetamine, cocaine, Jacoby's statements and even the drugs allegedly recovered during his later January arrest as “fruit of the poisonous tree.”
Prosecutors countered that Barker had plenty of reasons to become suspicious.
There was the package underneath Jacoby, Jacoby's behavior, inconsistencies involving the Saab and its license plate, and Jacoby's recent history with drugs and another vehicle.
The government argued Barker hadn't improperly delayed the stop because he continued performing ordinary traffic-stop duties while asking questions and investigating the ownership of the Saab.
Skavdahl sided with prosecutors and denied Jacoby's motion to suppress in July.
Federal Case Detour
Jacoby's first indictment was among nine federal felony indictments dismissed in May after Wyoming's federal judges found misconduct by then-interim U.S. Attorney Darin Smith had tainted grand jury proceedings.
The judges found Smith had made improper comments to grand jurors, including referring to defendants as “bad guys” and “murderers” and suggesting their deliberations wouldn't take long. Jacoby was among the defendants whose indictments were dismissed.
A new grand jury indicted him May 20 on one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine.
After losing his bid to suppress the evidence from Barker's traffic stop, Jacoby pleaded guilty July 27.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
