Wyoming federal judges recently sentenced three men for drugs, firearms, robbery, counterfeiting and other crimes, according to a news release from the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's Office.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Michael Burton Lee Williams, 40, of Casper for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Williams received 15 years one month of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

He was the second of five defendants to be sentenced for his role in a Casper-area methamphetamine conspiracy. Two more defendants are scheduled to be sentenced this week.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case.

 

Skavdahl sentenced Melvin Edward Jefferson, 32, of Fort Worth, Texas, for interference with interstate commerce by means of robbery and aid and abet, use and brandish a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being felon in possession of a firearm. Jefferson was arrested in Cheyenne.

Melvin Jefferson. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Melvin Jefferson. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
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He received 12 years six months of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,409 in restitution and a $300 special assessment.

Jefferson's co-defendant, Aaron Watson, was sentenced in July to seven years of imprisonment. The case began Nov. 14 when Jefferson robbed a fast food restaurant in Gillette, by forcing Watson into an office at gunpoint and making him had over $360. But Watson, initially believed to be the victim, was a friend of Watson and was a participant in the crime.

The Gillette Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case.

This case was an operation of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson sentenced Brice Ashton Carter, 34, of Cheyenne for counterfeiting and forging obligations or securities of the United States and felon in possession of a firearm.

He received seven years of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay an $800 fine, and a $200 special assessment.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case.

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