Casper man convicted of burglaries gets 5- to 10-year prison sentence

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison on Friday for a string of auto burglaries last April.

Casey James Cross, 45, has been in jail since his arrest and pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit burglary, being a felon in possession of a firearm and child endangerment with fentanyl.

The case started April 3 when a series of auto burglaries had been reported, believed to have taken place the night before. Home security footage was instrumental in identifying Cross and other juvenile suspects, according to the affidavit. Police executed a warrant on Cross’s home and found numerous items of reported stolen property there and in a family vehicle.

One of those items was a firearm that had been left in an unlocked vehicle, a practice the Casper Police Department has repeatedly advised against. Cross’s then-wife Fallon was also charged with drug crimes resulting from the search.

Cross is also ordered to pay $45 for property that was not recovered.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson told Judge Josh Eames on Friday that the crimes had occurred while Cross was on a suspended six- to eight-year sentence for an aggravated burglary with injury conviction in 2018 out of Sheridan County.

Cross had pled cold in August allowing the state to ask for up to ten years in prison at sentencing. Cross’s public defender, Tim Cotton, asked for an 18- to 48-month sentence, saying Cross was entirely remorseful and showed signs of true commitment to reforming his criminal behavior. According to Cotton, Cross had told presentence investigators that he’d been three and a half years sober before relapsing and committing the new crimes in Natrona County.

At his initial appearance April 8, Cross said he had been in Casper about two years and had previously lived in Douglas. 

Judge Eames imposed a five- to 10-year sentence on the burglary charge, noting that the burglary victims’ sense of security had been undermined. Eames imposed a concurrent two- to-four-year sentence on the child endangerment charges, noting that the children were victimized by the crime as well.

Cross will get credit for the 275 days served since his arrest.