District Court News

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

Pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement reached with the State, 19-year-old Leland Cross pleaded no contest to the felony charges of conspiracy to commit burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit theft. Cross also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance – marijuana. The State, according to the plea agreement, is recommending 5 to 10 years in prison for each of the felony counts and to run the sentences concurrent to one another, and time served for the misdemeanor drug possession charge.

District Court Judge Darci Phillips ordered that a presentence investigation be completed by the Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole and scheduled sentencing for April 9 at 10:30 am. Cross’s bond was revoked and he was remanded to the custody of the Sheridan County Detention Center pending sentencing.

On July 31, 2025, the Sheridan Police Department received a report of vehicle burglaries where firearms were missing from their cases in the 1200 block of the Bowman Avenue area. Cross was arrested during a traffic stop for being in possession of one of the stolen firearms. The crimes occurred between July 25 and August 1 of 2025.

Also from District Court:

A Sheridan man changed his plea to an amended charge at a hearing Tuesday in Fourth Judicial District Court. Pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement made between the defendant and the State, Earnest Pennell pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor theft for being in possession of a stolen car stereo in July of 2025. An evaluation conducted by the Wyoming State Hospital indicated that Pennell was not criminally responsible for the crime when it was committed due to cognitive issues from a previous traumatic brain injury.

The plea agreement recommends a sentence of 90 days in jail, suspended in favor of six months of unsupervised probation. Pennell also received four days credit for time served of presentence confinement. Pennell was ordered to pay $300 in restitution to the victim, $200 in court costs and assessments and $150 to the State of Wyoming for public defender fees.