Wyoming Federal Judge Sentences Four In Reservation Meth Conspiracy Case
A Wyoming federal judge recently sentenced four of five defendants in a methamphetamine conspiracy case on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal sentenced Joseph Edward Miller, Albert Medicine Cloud and Virgil James Behan III for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
- Miller, 41, of Arapahoe, received three years of probation and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and a $400 fine.
- Cloud, 28, of Thermopolis, was arrested in Lander and received one year and one day of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation. Freudenthal also ordered him to pay $200 in community restitution and a $100 special assessment.
- Behan, 30, Arapahoe received two-and-a-half years of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.
Another defendant in the case, Hokashina Fasthorse, was sentenced for assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm after pleading guilty in Feburary. Fasthorse, 31, of Riverton was arrested in Lander and received one year, three months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.
The lead defendant in the case, Cameron Means-Goodman, was found guilty of five of eight methamphetamine-conspiracy related charges after a jury trial in February. Freudenthal set her sentencing date for April 24.
The case began on July 15, 2017, when Wind River Police officers responded to a residence in Arapahoe for a report that Means-Goodman shot at her ex-husband Darrell Goodman, according to a criminal complaint. The homeowner, Miller, Behan and others not charged in this case also were involved in the altercation.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Officers later searched the residence of Means-Goodman -- Darrell Goodman had moved out -- and arrested her on tribal charges.
They also searched the residence and found ammunition, a syringe, hundreds of small plastic bags often used for trafficking crystalline controlled substances, and between 10 and 15 grams of a crystalline substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine.
Four months later, a grand jury handed up an indictment of the five defendants.
The indictment alleged Means-Goodman would travel to Salt Lake City to obtain methamphetamine, and sell it or front it to Miller and Behan. "To front" means to distribute the drug at a set price and agree to accept payment after it has been sold.
She, Fasthorse and Medicine Cloud also would assault or threaten to assault others to collect payment for the fronted methamphetamine. They also carried firearms when collecting payment.
For example, the indictment alleged Fasthorse assaulted Behan with a firearm.
The case was investigated by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Tribal Fish and Game, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.