CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man was sentenced to almost 20 years in federal prison last month after pleading guilty to his role in a methamphetamine delivery conspiracy in Natrona County. Two co-conspirators from Casper and their source of supply from Colorado were also sentenced in recent weeks, according to a release on Friday from the U.S. Justice Department.
In fall 2023, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations agents learned that Casper residents William James Varney, Julia Carlene Deshaw and Gerald Lee Dehnert were taking turns driving to Colorado and bringing back 1–5 pounds of methamphetamine at a time.
Through surveillance and other investigative tactics, agents identified the supplier as Thornton, Colorado, resident Jolyn Furley.
On April 12, 2024, agents tracked Varney’s vehicle as he made a trip to Colorado and stopped at locations familiar to the investigation. Wyoming Highway Patrol and Natrona County Sheriff’s Office personnel waited with a search warrant for the vehicle to come back to Casper.
As troopers initiated the traffic stop at 9:15 p.m., Varney fled for about 3 miles, reaching speeds of over 100 mph, according to the affidavit. A trooper’s tactical vehicle intervention brought Varney’s Nissan Sentra to a rest on the median.
About 2.8 pounds of suspected methamphetamine was found on the road no more than a hundred yards behind where the vehicle had come to rest, the affidavit said.
All four defendants were tried before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson in Cheyenne.
Varney, 56, was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment with five years of supervised release on March 14. Deshaw, 56, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on the same day.
Dehnert, 65, was sentenced to eight years’ federal prison on April 1.
Furley, age 50, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on March 28.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Mills Police Department investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Z. Seth Griswold prosecuted the case.
