Man caught after getting stuck in snow pleads guilty to federal charges

Posted 11/29/23

A Campbell County man who was arrested after driving his truck into a snowbank on the side of Highway 50 pleaded guilty to federal drug charges while another man involved in the drug bust has been sentenced to state prison.

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Man caught after getting stuck in snow pleads guilty to federal charges

Posted

GILLETTE (WNE) — A Campbell County man who was arrested after driving his truck into a snowbank on the side of Highway 50 pleaded guilty to federal drug charges while another man involved in the drug bust has been sentenced to state prison.

Jesse Ray Walthers, 39, pleaded guilty at his October change of plea hearing in U.S. District Court to a count of possession with intent to distribute meth and a count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to court documents.

He had been charged with felony counts of meth and fentanyl possession and possession with intent to deliver meth and fentanyl in Campbell County but those charges were dismissed when the federal charges came in.

He reached a deal with prosecutors ahead of the change of plea, which the News Record was unable to view. A count of having a gun as a convicted felon was dropped, according to court documents.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3.

Meanwhile, a man who arrived at the scene after Walthers crashed his truck into a snowbank, Brice A. Tipton, has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for a drug charge stemming from the incident.

Tipton, 33, received a four to six year sentence at his October hearing. District Judge James M. “Mike” Causey credited Tipton with 195 days served and recommended him for the intensive treatment unit, according to court documents.

A digital scale and meth were found inside Tipton’s Chevy Impala by Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers who arrived at the scene of the crash April 7 at about the same time as Tipton.