Alleged Heroin Dealers Arraigned in District Court

On May 29, a trooper with the Wyoming Highway Patrol pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 90 near Sheridan for speeding. Following a search of the vehicle, three of the four occupants were arrested for heroin possession and distribution. The three defendants, all residents of Montana, were on their way back from Denver, where they had picked up a large amount of black tar heroin with the intent of distributing the drug throughout Montana.

Tuesday at an arraignment hearing in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan, 25-year-old Robert Kenitzer pleaded “not guilty” to the charges of Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance- Heroin, Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver- Heroin, and Possession of a Controlled Substance- Heroin. District Court Judge John Fenn set the date of the two-day #4 stack trial for Monday, December 7. A pretrial conference was scheduled for November 5 at 10:30 am. A #4 stack trial means that there are three other trials scheduled to begin on December 7 as well.

One of Kenitzers co-defendants in the case, 28-year-old Heather Howell was also arraigned in District Court Tuesday. She pleaded “not guilty” to the same three charges that Kenitzer faces. Judge Fenn set the #5 stack trial for December 7. Howell’s pretrial conference will take place on November 5 at 11 am. The other co-defendant, David Osteen, pleaded not guilty to the same three charges last week at an arraignment in District Court. If convicted on all counts, each defendant faces up to 47 years in prison and fines of up to $65,000.