Man Sentenced to Federal Prison For Kidnapping Woman From Ranch and Standoff in Cheyenne

U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced Joseph Beecher, 51, of Craig, Colorado to 264 months in federal prison with five years of supervised release to follow, for the kidnapping of a woman from Michael Bloomberg’s ranch in February 2022.

Beecher was convicted of kidnapping, carjacking, using/carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and transportation of stolen firearms following a three-day trial that ended on Aug. 28 with a guilty verdict.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Beecher lived and worked at an apartment complex in Craig, Colorado. In the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 2022, Beecher was informed by his employer that his services were no longer needed.

Beecher broke into his employer’s home and stole two firearms, including a Bushmaster AR-style rifle. Beecher then drove to a ranch in Colorado owned by Michael Bloomberg, intent on killing Mr. Bloomberg, but finding only a female employee present on the property.

Beecher took the woman hostage at gunpoint and forced her to drive him to various locations to locate and kill another media mogul in Colorado.

Unable to find his second target, Beecher eventually forced the woman at gunpoint to drive him to the Stage Coach Motel in Cheyenne, where Beecher could rest and figure out his next criminal act.

In the early morning hours of February 3, 2022, SWAT officers with the Cheyenne Police Department rescued the woman and arrested Beecher at the motel. The woman was physically unharmed.

Beecher was indicted on March 17, 2022, and pleaded not guilty on March 21, 2022. The FBI, Cheyenne Police Department, Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the Craig Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Vierbuchen prosecuted the case.