SUBLETTE COUNTY – The day arrived for Jay E. Van Wagoner, 34, of Casper, to learn what his sentence would be after making a plea deal to drop two of four felony cocaine charges filed against him in 2021.

On May 25, Van Wagoner changed his not guilty pleas for a felony delivery charge and one felony possession to “no contest,” but 9^th District Court Judge Kate McKay could not hear sentencing arguments from the public defender or prosecution because Van Wagoner’s pre-sentence investigation report was incomplete.

Probation officer Jeanne Whinnery completed the report, which public defender Rachel Weksler said on June 22 did not recommend her client for supervised probation and didn’t assess him as a serious enough risk for him to enter an adult community correction program.

Weksler explained that Van Wagoner’s drug sales were not for any personal substance abuse but cash for his gambling addiction – “Again, that’s not an excuse. Just for context.”

At the June 22 sentencing, student intern Matt Riekens, with Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich, called Detective Toby Terrell as a witness to testify about confidential informants who said they heard they could buy cocaine in Pinedale from Van Wagoner. Detectives set up two recorded “buys” with Van Wagoner for increasing amounts of cocaine, he said. Van Wagoner pleaded not guilty to two counts of delivery and two of possession; a trial was delayed by COVID courtroom restrictions.

In a “Mirandized post-arrest interview,” Terrell said Van Wagoner would cut adulterants into the original amount of cocaine, doubling the quantity.

Detectives found an April 9, 2021, self-video in Van Wagoner’s phone metadata in which he “bragged” on Facebook Live about his cocaine connections to a dealer called the Butterman. It would disclose the defendants’s character, Riekens said.

Weksler called it irrelevant and inappropriate. Judge McKay said she would keep in mind the video was two years old and it was played in the courtroom. Weksler asked Terrell how the video reflected his character; he said showed Van Wagoner with a known drug dealer involved in selling cocaine.

Judge McKay then considered the prosecution’s recommendation for 7 to 10 years in prison for each charge.

Riekens spoke of illegal drug use in rural communities and the societal problems it can lead to. He noted although Van Wagoner’s risk of reoffending was “moderate,” he presents a very high risk to the children in this community. The Casper man sold cocaine across the state for greed and the thrill, not to support his own habit, and showed “an unwillingness to atone.”

Weksler then described Van Wagoner as a big-hearted person with remorse for his choices. He has two previous misdemeanors and one felony conviction. Although he would not be eligible for ACC with a “moderate” risk of reoffending, he required intervention to change his behavior.

She recommended 18 months to 3 years in prison, possibly with an ACC recommendation.

“I would ask for supervised probation but I can’t do that,” Weksler said. Previously on supervised probation, he broke it only to tend to his dying dog.

Judge McKay heard from a prior probation agent and Linda Van Wagoner, who said Jay had come a long way.

Van Wagoner took the opportunity to address McKay, saying he had problems after being life-flighted for head injuries in an accident and “fell in with the wrong crowd.” He said he doesn’t drink and can help others, and he is “slowly climbing out of a hole.”

Judge McKay brought up the two “very different recommendations” and although she doubts Van Wagoner poses a threat now, “serious drugs do have impacts on a community.”

At 34, she said, he is at a “time when men start to come around and be less selfish.”

He made two separate “very substantial” cocaine sales from higher up the chain than typical users, she added. “I’m sentencing almost a different person than two years ago.”

Seven to 10 years was “weighty,” she said, adding the PSI’s “odd discrepancy” of risk assessment could keep him out of an ACC program, which “could have been an adequate substitute.”

Wyoming Department of Corrections might find a way to reassess him for ACC, she added.

Judge McKay sentenced Van Wagoner to 3 to 7 years in prison with 105 days credit for time served in custody. She also ordered him to reimburse the state for $4,800 in controlled “buy” funds not recovered.