Wyoming Federal Judges Sentence Four Defendants
A Wyoming federal judge recently sentenced the last of six defendants in a multistate methamphetamine conspiracy.
Judges also sentenced three other men for illegal alien and firearms crimes.
Last week, Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Kenneth Thomas Minow, 60, of Miles City, Mont., for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Minow received time served, to be followed by three years of probation, and was ordered to pay $500 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.
This case was investigated by the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
The investigation also led to the arrests and sentencings of five other defendants.
A criminal complaint filed March 2 says law enforcement agents knew Ivan Thomas Gorzalka had been distributing of methamphetamine in Sheridan County since 2006. Agents tracked his movements from Sheridan to Casper, and met his supplier in Wheatland. The supplier was from Colorado, according to court documents.
A confidential source also told an agent that Gorzalka had made nine trips to Denver to buy five-pound quantities of meth, and at least two trips to buy 10-pound quantities.
On March 24, the federal grand jury handed up an indictment charging Ivan Thomas Gorzalka, Minow and the other defendants with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In other recent sentencings, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson sentenced David Michael Hogan, 64, of Chesapeake, Va., for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for transportation of a stolen vehicle. Hogan received five years of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation, and was ordered to pay $20,069.85 in restitution and a $200 special assessment.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Johnson and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal sentenced two Mexican nationals for illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien into the United States.
The defendants received time served, plus 10 days, were ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment, and are subject to deportation upon release from custody.
Johnson sentenced Jose Roberto Maya-Tzompa, 26, of Mexico City; and Freudenthal sentenced Jose Nain Sanchez-Aburto, 31, of Apizaco, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Both were arrested in Teton County.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated these cases.