Two Wyoming Residents Sentenced in Federal Court

-Ronald Kenneth Stankus, 39, of Casper, Wyoming, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on September 29, 2015, for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.  Stankus was arrested in Casper, Wyoming.  He received 150 months imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $500.00 fine and a $100.00 special assessment.  This case was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

-Louis Hoopes, 44, of Lyman, Wyoming, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on September 22, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute no less than 200 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.  Hoopes was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He received 70 months imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $400.00 fine and a $100.00 special assessment.  This case results from an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) joint investigation conducted by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.