Wyoming Federal Judge Sentences Last Defendant In Meth Case

The last of the seven defendants in a methamphetamine conspiracy that operated in Casper and elsewhere in Wyoming was sentenced in federal court on Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Jayde Mucklow to five-and-a-half years imprisonment, to be followed by four years of probation, a $100 special assessment, and a $250 fine.

Mucklow earlier had pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams (nearly 18 ounces) of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting. A second count was dismissed as part of her plea deal.

She is from Englewood, Colo., and she was arrested in Denver. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.

The case apparently started in late March 2015 when Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers pulled over Michael Crain for driving his pickup erratically northbound on Interstate 25 about 40 miles north of Cheyenne. Crain said he had been on a long trip starting in Casper or Douglas and then to Colorado and back to Wyoming. Investigators found more than six ounces of methamphetamine in his pickup, according to the criminal complaint filed April 3.

In early May, a federal grand jury indicted Crain, Mucklow,, Barry Barrera, Troy Starrett, Steve Rawlings, Harold "Creature" Creighton and Cassandra Long-Haul.

In June, they and 17 other defendants were arrested. Many of those other defendants were prosecuted in state district court.

Of the seven, all but Creighton pleaded guilty.

On Nov. 2, Creighton was convicted of one count of distributing more than 500 grams of methamphetamine by a jury that deliberated only two hours to arrive at its verdict. The punishment for that one count carried a penalty of 10 years to life imprisonment.

On Jan. 11, Skavdahl sentenced Creighton to life imprisonment in part because of his lengthy criminal history including previous drug convictions, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and other offenses.

Creighton has filed an appeal with the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

These are the sentences of the other defendants:

• Barrera --five years, eight months imprisonment.
• Starrett -- five years, 10 months imprisonment.
• Rawlings -- five years, 10 months imprisonment.
• Long-Haul -- four years, six months imprisonment.
• Crain -- 10 years imprisonment.