After convictions for illegal drug use, impaired driving, domestic abuse, a high-speed chase and a scuffle that injured a police officer, Park County prosecutors felt it was time to send Aaron L. Driesel to prison.

However, at a Monday sentencing hearing, Driesel made the case that he’s made substantial changes since his flight from and fight with Cody police in 2023.

After completing inpatient drug treatment and a sober living program, “I’ve actually got to live a life that I’m proud of,” the 27-year-old Cody resident said, adding, “I don’t put myself and I don’t put others in harm’s way, like I did when I was in active addiction.”

Driesel, who served roughly eight months in jail while the case was pending, contended that prison wasn’t the answer.

District Judge Bill Simpson agreed to place Driesel on five years of supervised probation, suspending six to 10 years of prison time, but said it had been “a very close call.”

“Your life will basically be under a microscope,” Simpson warned, adding that if Driesel uses drugs or alcohol, hurts anyone or otherwise violates the law again, “you’re going to the penitentiary.”

Over 100 miles an hour

Most of Monday’s testimony focused on Driesel and how he’s changed, but Simpson made a point of highlighting the defendant’s crimes.

“Never forget what you did,” Simpson said. “Never forget how close you came to the total destruction of someone’s life or property or both.”

On Aug. 17, 2023, Driesel refused to pull over for Cody police and led them on a chase through the city and north on Wyo. Highway 120. He was clocked going 70 miles an hour through a 20 mph construction zone and, at another point, reportedly topped 110 mph. 

When Driesel did pull over, police found he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs — and he was uncooperative. Then-Cody Police Officer Chris LeBlanc injured his shoulder in the attempt to handcuff Driesel and later had to leave his job as an officer, Deputy County Attorney Larry Eichele said. 

Driesel eventually pleaded guilty to felony counts of causing bodily injury to a peace officer and possessing a controlled substance (marijuana) for a third or subsequent time.

Driesel was released on bond after the scuffle, but was rearrested in December 2023 for again driving while impaired near Meeteetse.

The cases only compounded his legal troubles, as both of his 2023 arrests came while he was already out on bond for a May 2021 altercation with his then-girlfriend. In that incident, Driesel reportedly responded to a blow to his crotch by slapping the woman, pinning her to the floor and putting his hand around her throat and mouth. (Driesel admitted to the slap, but denied choking her.)

Park County prosecutors initially filed a felony count of strangulation of a household member for the 2021 incident. However, with the agreement of the victim, they settled on six months of unsupervised probation on misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and possession of marijuana late last year.

As for the misdemeanor DUI charge from December 2023, it resulted in a 10-day jail sentence. That left the felony August 2023 chase and interference case to resolve on Monday.

Seeking accountability

Former officer LeBlanc didn’t submit a statement to the court, but he reportedly told the county attorney’s office that he believed a prison sentence was appropriate.

Eichele said the crimes Driesel committed were stacked into a relatively short amount of time and seemed to be escalating.

“It’s concerning to me the seriousness of the counts and how quickly they were coming,” Eichele said, “and once it gets to that point, it really gets the prosecutor’s attention.”

He said Driesel’s record and conduct warranted a prison sentence.

Driesel was given the opportunity to get out of jail while his cases were pending, with judges allowing him to complete both a treatment program at Cedar Mountain Center and Ezekiel 37 Ministries’ sober living program.

Driesel’s defense attorney, Travis Smith, said those programs helped build a foundation.

“What has held him accountable since he completed Ezekiel house [in the spring] is Aaron Driesel,” Smith added, “and the need to be a different man, to get right with his past addiction, to accept this responsibility for his past behavior and, I don’t think he’d mind me saying this, getting right with the Lord.”

At his sentencing on the domestic battery charge late last year, Driesel described how he’d learned skills to manage his anger and addiction. He apologized to his former girlfriend for inflicting trauma, pain and destruction on her, saying it’s “really hard to live with myself knowing that I caused as much damage as I did.”

On Monday, Simpson directed Driesel to also issue a written apology to the two arresting Cody police officers “who were doing nothing more than their job” in the August 2023 incident. 

“These men and women [in law enforcement] are out there putting their life on the line every single day,” Simpson said, and they had to “put up with your behavior. Absolutely intolerable and inexcusable.”

Driesel told the court that it “broke my heart” when he saw the recent news about a Cody police officer who shot a 22-year-old man who allegedly brandished a knife on a traffic stop. Driesel said he felt for the officer, the young man and their families.

“It breaks my heart daily that I put everybody on the line [in 2023],” Driesel added. “It took me realizing that I only cared about myself and nobody else to actually want to do everything that I’ve been doing [in recovery].”  

Simpson said he believed Driesel is sincere and not a threat, but, he said, “every day, you’ve got to be strong.”