‘In the mix again’: Casper man sentenced to 8–12 years on probation revocation

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man was sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison on Tuesday on a probation revocation for methamphetamine and fentanyl conspiracy charges.

Christopher Scott Klingbeil, 47, received a 10- to 15-year suspended sentence on Feb. 8, 2023. According to court transcripts, the prosecutor and Judge Kerri Johnson noted the sentence was considerably light given the scope of the conspiracy and the volume of drugs that come into Natrona County and the state during its operation.

The top-level dealers in that conspiracy were arrested after a resupply trip to Colorado on March 27, 2022, with 11.97 pounds of methamphetamine, 2,862 fentanyl pills, 16 pounds of marijuana and two stolen firearms. The state identified Isaiah Wallace as the ringleader, and he was sentenced to 12–18 years in prison.

Over a dozen co-conspirators, including Klingbeil, were charged in a grand jury indictment in the case.

Less than a week after Wallace was sentenced, Klingbeil got his suspended sentence with five years of supervised probation. At the time, Judge Johnson warned Klingbeil that the prosecution’s endorsement of the plea agreement had very likely saved him from a prison term, according to the court reporter’s transcript.

“The amount of drugs [and] the several types of drugs that were being pushed into the community has a devastating effect on families and children and other people’s lives, and you were a major part of that,” Johnson said, according to the transcript. She warned that it was “highly likely” Klingbeil would go to prison if he violated probation.

On Dec. 1, 2023, Klingbeil was arrested after being found with about one gram of methamphetamine during a traffic stop, according to the affidavit. A search of his phone yielded conversations with another unnamed distributor discussing payments and arrangements for methamphetamine to be delivered to a handful of other individuals.

According to the texts transcribed in the affidavit, the co-conspirator knew Klingbeil was on probation and showed concern: “Also how come you keep f—in’ around and getting in trouble and stuff and messing with people when you know you got kids at home…”

“Ur all up in the mix again,” the conspirator texted.

When pleading guilty to the new conspiracy charge in August, Klingbeil said he was mostly dealing in “eightballs” (3.5 grams) and $20–$40 purchases and keeping small amounts as a way to support his own habit, according to the transcript.

Klingbeil will get credit for four days served on the 2022 conspiracy case. On the new case, the state has agreed to ask for no more than eight years, which would run alongside the eight to 12 years imposed on Tuesday.