CASPER, Wyo. — Multiple Natrona County residents and others have been charged in a methamphetamine delivery conspiracy that resulted in three high-speed chases and additional robbery charges for some defendants.

Four suspects were arrested last Thursday after a high-speed chase on Interstate 25 during which spike strips were used to disable the vehicle and two bags of presumptive-positive methamphetamine were found on the roadway, believed by law enforcement to have been thrown out the window during the chase.

Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Agent and Casper Police Officer Austin Birkle told the court Friday that a confidential informant initially implicated Joseph Barrera, his sister Staci Barrera (38), his girlfriend Tristy Richards (31) and David Bozeman (34) in the methamphetamine case last December.

Birkle was testifying at the preliminary hearing for Barry Barrera, 41. Birkle said agents believe that Barry had assumed a leading role in the conspiracy after his brother Joseph and Richards were arrested following a chase with law enforcement in Albany County last month.

Richards, Barry Barrera, Joseph Barrera and Bozeman are presumed innocent in these and all discussed allegations unless proven or pleading guilty.

After the Albany County arrest, Birkle said agents then began monitoring Barry and observed two controlled purchases from Barry in Natrona County in late December and early January.

Birkle said the second controlled purchase was filmed by the informant, and Barry’s girlfriend — Sara Lujan, 44 — can be heard on the recording. Birkle said Barry is seen breaking up methamphetamine and using a scale with a distinctive red-and-green “Bob Marley” color scheme, and that the same scale was found in the vehicle disabled by agents last Thursday.

Birkle said agents got word that Barry would be traveling to Colorado last week and got a warrant to track and search the vehicle. Birkle said the vehicle, a rental, sped away while heading east on I-25 past Glenrock and reached speeds of 138 mph.  The vehicle was spike-stripped, and it came to a stop just inside the Natrona County line.

Several miles back, a trooper found one baggie with 98 grams of presumptive-positive methamphetamine. Another baggie was found in the road with its crystalline contents strewn across the snow, Birkle said. 

Rawlins resident Carlos Salazar — referred to as “Bones” in some text conversations in the affidavit — was the driver of the suspect vehicle, and Lujan, Staci Barrera and Barry Barrera were the passengers.

All were charged with conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine.  Because the methamphetamine found on the roadway landed in Converse County, Barry Barrera and Carlos Salzar were each charged with two counts of attempted felony possession — one for the weight and one for the alleged intent to distribute — in Natrona County. Birkle said there was an empty satchel on the floor where Barry was sitting.

Baggies, pipes, syringes and the “Bob Marley” scale were found in the vehicle, Birkle said. Lujan also had a misdemeanor amount of methamphetamine on her person, according to the affidavit. 

At preliminary hearings today, public defenders Marty Scott and Noelle Bradshaw successfully argued for nominal bond reductions for their respective clients, Staci Barrera and Sara Lujan. Despite their clients’ presence in the vehicle, evidence of their involvement in a conspiracy was limited, they argued. Lujan now has a $30,000 cash or surety bond and Staci’s $30,000 cash-only bond was converted to cash or surety. Both are considered innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

Joseph Barrera has not been charged in Natrona County and remains in jail in Albany County following a chase with law enforcement there on Dec. 18, 2024, according to court records. According to Birkle’s affidavit, DCI agents were tracking a phone used by J. Barrera and Richards pursuant to a warrant in the drug investigation. They tracked J. Barrera and Richards in a silver Volvo that had been reported stolen in Casper just days before.

Agents tracked the vehicle to Greely, Colorado, and then onto I-80 in Wyoming. A traffic stop was attempted in Laramie but Barrera, the driver, allegedly fled at high speeds. Richards was let out and escaped on foot until she was found the next afternoon with 20–30 fentanyl pills on her person, Birkle said.

Barrera crashed the Volvo into the Union Pacific Railyard and fled on foot, according to the affidavit filed in Albany County. Law enforcement found him hiding in a shed, and later found a bag with 196 grams, or about 0.4 pounds, of methamphetamine in a wooden crate just outside the shed. Both were charged in Albany County with drug possession and intent to distribute.

Richards bonded out and was arrested on Tuesday with Benjamin Croley following a high-risk traffic stop near Natrona County High School, according to the affidavit. Richards was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and robbery, and Croley was charged as an alleged conspirator in the robbery.

The alleged robbery concerns the silver Volvo reported stolen on Dec. 13. On that day, agents were watching David Anthony Bozeman, another person of interest in the drug investigation. According to the affidavit, agents saw Bozeman hand off drugs to a woman at the Hat Six Travel Plaza. Agents continued surveillance on Bozeman as he followed the woman, who was pulled over by the Wyoming Highway Patrol in north Casper.

Bozeman reportedly parked at the adult video store and watched the arrest.

“After the traffic stop, four or more individuals arrived armed with bats, batons, and a possible firearm and stole the vehicle from Bozeman,” the affidavit said.

Bozeman reportedly used the store phone to call 911 but hung up, and when dispatchers called back, he gave the name “Joseph.” The Casper police report says that Bozeman and his friend gave “very blank stares” when the officer arrived and asked who called 911. The officer added that Bozeman could not give a logical answer as to why he didn’t use his real name when the clerk identified him as the caller.

Through the investigation it was learned that Bozeman and Joseph Barrera had gone together to a used car lot on East Yellowstone Street on Dec. 10 to purchase the silver Volvo. Staff explained that Bozeman had filled out all the paperwork and that Barrera had handed over $2,000 cash for it. 

Later that day, Mills police tried to stop J. Barrera and Richards in the silver Volvo, but it fled at a high speed and escaped. According to statements in the affidavit, Richards, J. Barrera and Bozeman were at a residence discussing the police chase. Bozeman reportedly became worried about the vehicle being in his name, so he took the vehicle and fled to Torrington.

In the following days, agents tried to conduct another controlled purchase from J. Barrera. In a recorded conversation, Barrera allegedly tells the presumptive buyers that his car had been stolen, along with his phone and a pound of methamphetamine.

Bozeman reportedly denied to police that there had been any methamphetamine in the vehicle.

Cellphone records contained in the affidavit indicate that Richards, Barrera and others lured Bozeman back to Casper. While Bozeman was allegedly selling methamphetamine to the woman at the Hat Six Travel Plaza under the watch of DCI on Dec. 13, one agent said he saw Luke Anthony McCusker near the transaction. Text conversations in the affidavit indicate McCusker was relaying Bozeman’s location to Richards and Barrera. 

Bozeman then parked at the adult video store in the silver Volvo and watched the Wyoming Highway Patrol take the woman he’d just allegedly just sold to into custody. Once the traffic stop ended, surveillance video shows Bozeman going into the store while his friend smokes a cigarette. That’s when a Chevrolet pulls up and multiple people get out with weapons, approach the friend and take the Volvo. 

Police believe Richards was the person wielding the baseball bat. Benjamin Croley has also been charged in the robbery conspiracy. Robbery is defined in state statute as theft with the threat of bodily injury.

The baton and baseball bat seen in the surveillance video were recovered from the crashed Volvo after the chase in Albany County. The vehicle was extensively damaged, according to the affidavit.

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