Former Laramie County Fire Chief Faces Late December Sentencing Date

Former Laramie County Fire District 1 Chief Darrick Mittlestadt could face up to half a century in prison when he is sentenced on his recent convictions for aggravated child abuse and conspiracy on December 28 in Laramie County District Court.

Mittlestadt was convicted of the charges last week in connection with the starvation of a boy he and his wife, Angela, adopted in 2019.

Darrick Mittlestadt was Chief of Laramie County Fire District 1 when he and his wife were arrested in July of last year. The Mittlestadts were charged in connection with a 13-year-old boy the couple adopted in Colorado in 2019. According to court papers, the boy, identified as EM, was allegedly restricted to one meal a day. When he was taken to Children's Hospital in Colorado on June 24, 2025, he allegedly weighed only 55 pounds and had no detectable levels of Vitamin D.

A doctor from the hospital told the court that the boy suffered from extreme malnutrition, had virtually no muscle mass, and looked like a concentration camp inmate.

At his trial, Darrick Mittlestadt tried to blame his wife for the boy's condition.

According to court documents, Angela Mittlestadt dropped the boy off at the Youth Development Center in Douglas on June 22, 2025. Because of his poor physical condition, he was transferred to the Children's Hospital.

Angela Mittlestadt pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse on Sept. 21 in a plea agreement with prosecutors.

In return, prosecutors dropped the conspiracy charges against her and agreed to seek a 15-17 year prison sentence rather than the 25-year maximum she could have received. But Judge Peter Froehlicher is not obligated to accept that deal.

Dropping the conspiracy charge took another 25-year sentence off the table, at least for now.

Froehlicher has scheduled a Dec. 14 sentencing date for Angela Mittlestadt, but indicated that date could be tentative. The judge says he wants to review a pre-sentence investigation before handing down her sentence.

If the judge decides not to accept the plea agreement, Angela Mittlestadt could withdraw her guilty plea. But doing so would leave her liable to a 50-year maximum prison sentence if she is convicted

Darrick Mittlestadt Sentencing Scheduled For December 28

Darrick Mittelstadt could receive that same 50-year sentence, 25 years each on the aggravated child abuse and the conspiracy conviction. He was free on bond before his conviction.

But when the jury came back with a "guilty' verdict on Friday, Judge Froehlicher set his bond at $500,000. Mittlestadt was also forced to surrender his passport.

As of Thursday afternoon, Oct. 1, Mittlestadt was listed as an inmate at the Laramie County jail.

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