Prison Sentence Handed Down for Man Convicted of Felony Theft

A man who pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft in April was sentenced in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan Tuesday. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Between April 1 and May 16 of 2025, Ralph Simpson stole over $8,300 in tools from the Home Depot in Sheridan. At sentencing Tuesday, District Court Judge Darci Phillips accepted the terms of the plea agreement reached between the defendant and the State, and sentenced Simpson to 2 to 4 years in prison for each of two counts of felony theft. The sentences will run concurrent to one another and consecutive to a prison sentence Simpson is currently serving in Montana.

Simpson was ordered to pay $525 in court costs and assessments and $8,328.69 in restitution to the Sheridan Home Depot. He was given credit for 273 days time served of presentence confinement. Simpson will serve his 2 to 4 year prison sentence in Wyoming after he’s done serving his sentence in Montana.

Also from Tuesday’s District Court Docket:

At a hearing in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan on April 30, 63-year-old Ranee Diefenderfer pleaded no contest to one count of felony theft. The no contest plea was not part of a plea agreement between the defendant and the State. At sentencing Tuesday, District Court Judge Darci Phillips accepted the State’s recommendation and sentenced Diefenderfer to 2 to 4 years in prison, suspended in lieu of three years of supervised probation.

Diefenderfer was ordered to pay $325 in court costs and assessments, $750 in public defender fees and $7,000 in restitution to the victim, James Buchanan. According to court documents, Diefenderfer, while she was an employee of Buchanan Chiropractic in Sheridan, stole the money from Dr. Buchanan between May 1, 2025, and November 3, 2025.

18-year-old Bryson Cross pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit burglary, one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and one count of theft. Between June 2025 and October 2025, Cross allegedly conspired with others to steal items, including firearms, from vehicles in Sheridan, Campbell, Johnson and Natrona Counties. The theft charge is from August 17, 2025 when Cross was alleged to have been in possession of a stolen vehicle.

Judge Phillips scheduled a four-day jury trial to begin on December 7. A pretrial conference will take place November 12 at 11 am. The conspiracy to commit burglary and theft charges are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. The conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary charge is punishable by not less than 5 years and not more than 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.