A Powell man has been ordered to serve four to eight years in prison for burglarizing a Powell bar in 2013 and helping make small quantities of methamphetamine last summer.

Cole J. Mattson, 25, received the sentence from District Court Judge Steven Cranfill on Wednesday after pleading guilty to separate felony counts of burglary and conspiracy to operate a clandestine lab. Another felony charge of supplying materials for a clandestine lab was dismissed.

Mattson technically received two overlapping four- to eight-year sentences that will be served at the same time.

“If you can ensure that someone gets the message, is adjudicated as a felon, and is going to remain clean and lead a decent life, where they’re going to be a responsible citizen, it can be a benefit to the state and it can be a benefit to the defendant,” Mattson's court-appointed attorney, Bill Simpson of Cody, said of the rationale behind having the two sentences overlap.

Simpson said Mattson apologized to the court, his family and the community, saying he understood he needed to be punished and also welcomed a new chance.

“He’s young enough to have a future,” Simpson said. “And we all hope that he learns from it.”

Mattson’s trouble dates back some two and a half years ago, when he was charged with breaking into the Back Street Pub and stealing $549 in cash and a $20 bottle of tequila one night in July 2013. The burglary case dragged on for years. Mattson was held in jail for more than nine months. He was released on bond to attend treatment, but left the program without permission in May 2014. He was found and re-arrested that October, then re-released on bond in February 2015.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation searched his East Fifth Street apartment and arrested him again in October on allegations that he’d helped Richard L. Jones, 39, cook meth in the apartment.

Mattson reportedly told police that, between late August and early October, he bought materials such as cold compress packs, lye and batteries for Jones, who he said supplied him with meth. Mattson also told the DCI that he “wasn’t a huge part of this, making dope;” Simpson said his client’s role was “limited.”

For his part, Jones reportedly told authorities he was only helping another man; charging documents don’t say whether that claim was in reference to Mattson or someone else.

The meth was reportedly being created with a “one bottle” or “shake-and-bake” method, which involves mixing relatively small quantities of toxic chemicals mixed in a pop bottle. Authorities had found bottles and other items that appeared to have been used in making meth in Mattson’s trash.

Back in December, Mattson wrote a letter to Judge Cranfill complaining that the Powell Tribune’s coverage of his case violated his civil rights by biasing potential jurors against him. He said he felt like he was being bullied into a plea agreement and asked the judge to drop the charges “because of what the newspaper did.”

“My family and I believe that would be the fair way that this can be taken care of,” Mattson wrote.

He ultimately agreed to a plea deal that included routine court fees and an order to pay back the Back Street Pub. He’s already served close to 18 months in jail.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Blatt noted the burglary and the involvement with meth were separate crimes. He also noted Mattson’s criminal history, which includes two prior felonies. Blatt had apparently intended to argue that Mattson's four- to eight-year sentences should be served consecutively -- that is, for a total of eight to 16 years. However, at the hearing, he ended up asking that the sentences be "concurrent," or overlapping, as Simpson was requesting.

Jones, meanwhile, faces four related felony counts alleging that he was involved in making meth last summer. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial is tentatively set for April.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Blatt had argued for eight to 16 years.

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