Casper serial shoplifter sentenced to 3 years’ probation

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man charged under a new state law for repeated shoplifting will be on supervised probation for three years, a judge ruled Wednesday.

James Severson heard the sentence, which could have resulted in four to five years’ imprisonment, from Natrona County District Court Judge Joshua Eames, who agreed to accept the plea agreement proffered from the prosecution and defense.

Severson, 50, who has been free on bond, appeared in court with his public defender, Dylan Rosalez.

“He needs to keep his hands off other people’s property.”

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Grill

Rosalez and Natrona County Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Grill presented a plea agreement in which Severson would receive a suspended prison sentence of three to five years and instead be placed on three years of supervised probation to be served concurrently for two separate cases.

Severson has been in Cheyenne dealing with other criminal matters, Grill said; however, she noted that he has a tremendous opportunity to turn his life around and this should serve as a wake-up call to change his shoplifting ways.

“He needs to keep his hands off other people’s property,” she said.

Rosalez said Severson will be successful in probation.

Other terms of his probation include paying $230 restitution to a store, serving 72 days and 10 days credit for time served for each of the two separate cases and remaining in treatment for addiction.

After Eames accepted the plea agreement, he told Severson that he hopes he takes advantage of it.

The new law, which took effect in July 2023, enables a fifth theft conviction to become a felony, regardless of the stolen good’s price. Under the new law, crimes counting toward a person’s five strikes include any theft offense outlined in state or local ordinances, including “shoplifting, larceny, wrongful taking of property, wrongful disposal of property or livestock rustling.”

Severson had a long, albeit minor, criminal history. In December, Casper police say he was riding a scooter in a neighborhood near Hobby Lobby on Tuesday when an officer recognized him and noted he had five active arrest warrants, according to the affidavit.

During the search, police found “14 packs of coloring equipment,” unopened fruit bars and makeup packs tucked in his jacket and along his waistband.

Severson had at least five shoplifting convictions since 2016, the arrest report noted.

One of the most recent events occurred on July 22, when Casper police conducted a traffic stop and arrested him, according to Casper Police Department spokesperson Amber Freestone. Severson was en route with two Door Dash orders for Ponchos and Taco Bell, Freestone said. Sgt. Jake Bigelow asked that the orders be delivered quickly.

“Officer C. Fowles, a CPD officer hired on Christmas Eve of 2018, was the man for the job,” Freestone said. “He made both deliveries with haste.”