Change of Plea Hearing Held in District Court

A change of plea hearing was held Tuesday in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan for a man charged with drug distribution. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Between March 24 and April 13 of this year, 42-year-old Jonathan Stieve sold drugs to a confidential informant as part of an investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Stieve was arrested on April 13 and charged with six counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Three of the charges are for methamphetamine distribution, two of the charges are for distributing cocaine and one count is for the distribution of suboxone. Stieve, at a change of plea hearing Tuesday, pleaded guilty to all six counts as part of a plea agreement that was reached with the state.

The plea deal recommends 3 to 5 years in prison for each count, suspended in lieu of three years of supervised probation. The sentences and probation will run concurrent to one another. District Court Judge Darci Phillips ordered that a presentence investigation be completed by Probation and Parole and scheduled the sentencing hearing for October 3 at 9 am.

Judge Phillips agreed to modify Stieve’s bond from a $20,000 cash or surety bond, to a $20,000 unsecured bond with the terms and conditions that he submit to random high level drug testing and be evaluated for substance abuse and follow through with any and all recommendations of the evaluation. 

Other District Court News:

An arraignment hearing was held for 34-year-old Kyle Fearnow of Sheridan. Fearnow was arrested on October 31, 2022 for allegedly distributing fentanyl in the Sheridan area. Fearnow, at Tuesday’s hearing pleaded not guilty to the charge of delivery of a controlled substance – fentanyl. District Court Judge Darci Phillips set a three day #2 stack jury trial for December 11 and scheduled a pretrial conference for November 9 at 9:30 am. Bond was continued under the same terms and conditions that were previously set in Circuit Court.

In 2015, Fearnow was sentenced to serve 7 to 13 years in prison for burglarizing Hospital Pharmacy on Main Street in Sheridan. Over 13,000 pills were stolen from the pharmacy that included a variety of opiates and other drugs. Fearnow, when arrested, was in possession of less than half the amount of pills that were stolen.

Also from District Court Tuesday, 40-year-old Corey Anderson pleaded not guilty to the charges of felony possession of a controlled substance – methamphetamine, and felony possession of a controlled substance – marijuana. The alleged crimes are being prosecuted as felonies because Anderson has two prior drug possession convictions on his record. He was convicted in Natrona County in 2001 and in Campbell County in 2012. Judge Phillips scheduled a three day jury trial for December 11 and set a pretrial conference for November 9 at 9 am. Each count of felony drug possession is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.