Jason Wade

Steven Denigris

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A months-long investigation culminated in a Friday drug bust at a Cody home. Authorities arrested six people after reportedly finding drugs and paraphernalia at the 26th Street property.

The defendants were generally caught with small amounts of drugs, charging documents allege, but agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) say they found roughly an ounce of meth in a camper occupied by 35-year-old Steven A. Denigris. That quantity could theoretically fetch a few thousand dollars on the black market.

Denigris is facing felony counts of possessing meth with intent to deliver and possessing more than 3 grams of the controlled substance. He remained in custody on Wednesday.

The other five defendants have been charged with misdemeanors and generally pleaded not guilty.

Park County prosecutors said they meant to file a felony charge against 40-year-old Jason Wade, who was reportedly the primary target of the investigation; a DCI special agent alleged in court records that Wade “was involved in a long term, ongoing conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in Park County,” and may have served as Denigris’ supplier.

However, in a filing snafu, the county attorney’s office only charged Wade with a misdemeanor count of possession. Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Ericka Smith, who was filling in, called it “an unfortunate mistake.”

Wade posted a $1,000 cash bond and was released from jail on Monday. Wade’s longtime partner Lindsi Sanders, 39, who owns the home, remained jailed on Wednesday. 

Matthew Carlson, 52, also remained in custody on Wednesday while 44-year-old Shyla Johnson posted bail. Carlson and Johnson had been renting an apartment in the home and, like Sanders, are charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance.

The final defendant, Jessie Shore, previously lived at the residence and was caught there with a small amount of meth. The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession at his initial Monday court appearance and was released to probation.

Lengthy investigation

Court records indicate Wade has been on DCI agents’ radar for some time. But the investigation apparently picked up in May, when two individuals told DCI that Wade was bringing meth and fentanyl into Park County.

One of those “confidential sources” reported they had driven Wade to Billings more than 10 times to meet with a supplier, the agent’s affidavit says. The source alleged Wade then made sales at people’s houses and at a couple different establishments in Cody.

A second confidential source said they, too, had gone with Wade to Billings to purchase meth and fentanyl, the affidavit says. That individual — who allegedly admitted to acquiring meth from Wade multiple times — reported he had other suppliers in the Casper area.

Investigators also reportedly obtained text messages Wade exchanged with “a known controlled substance distributor” who previously lived in Cody.

Between November and March, the affidavit says Wade and the woman discussed drug deals, including amounts and prices. She reportedly used the nickname “Tarzan” while Wade is alleged to have used “Banana” at times.

The Tribune is not publishing the woman’s name or the name of the alleged supplier in Billings because they have not been charged in connection with the allegations.

DCI eventually began surveilling the 26th Street property and tracking the residents’ comings and goings.

“Several parties suspected of controlled substance use have frequented the residence and met with individuals on the property,” McCloud wrote in the application for a search warrant.

Neighborhood conflict

Court records say a neighbor reported people smoking meth in the home's garage in July.

Responding Cody Police Sgt. Eric Wright wrote in an affidavit that he spoke with Denigris, who “assured me there was nobody using drugs at this address.” Wade invited police to check the garage and Wright said they found no evidence of drug use. The neighbor, Orrin Christensen, later admitted he had no proof and just assumed there were drugs, that affidavit says.

Christensen was himself suspected of using meth, according to the affidavit, and he has since been charged with stalking two of the residents of the 26th Street property. Christensen has made paranoid and suicidal comments, yelled, screamed and made death threats toward his neighbors, Wright wrote in his affidavit. He indicated that Christensen has armed himself with a bow and arrow, a tomahawk and a revolver in recent months.

“It is my belief that this situation is quickly deteriorating and is increasingly getting more dangerous for all parties involved,” Wright wrote on Aug 22.

A warrant was issued that day and Christensen was arrested on Sept. 11. He's been jailed with bail set at $15,000 cash only.

Meanwhile, the same day Cody police arrested Christensen, DCI agents searched Wade’s and Sanders’ trash. Inside they found a jeweler’s baggie — the kind commonly used for distributing drugs — and found it contained apparent meth residue.

DCI agents obtained a warrant to search the residence the following day.

Executing a search warrant

In the main floor of the home, where Wade and Sanders live, authorities say they found multiple sets of scales with meth residue and paraphernalia that tested positive for meth and fentanyl. One scale found somewhere on the property reportedly had traces of cocaine as well.

Sanders, who allegedly resisted arrest, had a small container of apparent meth in her pocket, the charging documents say.

In the basement apartment where Carlson and Johnson reside, agents reportedly found scales, needles, baggies, pipes and other drug paraphernalia, along with a small amount of drugs. That included some meth and apparent LSD in a false compartment hidden inside a can of AriZona iced tea, the document says.

As for Shore, the previous resident, he was allegedly caught with a small amount of meth and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession on Monday.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Marina Tucker recommended that Shore receive credit for the roughly three days he’d served in jail, with another 27 days suspended in favor of six months of unsupervised probation. Tucker also suggested $500 in court fines and fees.

“That sounds reasonable to me,” Shore said, and Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah adopted the prosecutor’s recommendation.

Setting bond

The judge also went along with Tucker’s bond recommendations: $5,000 cash or surety Carlson and Johnson, $5,000 cash only for Sanders and $10,000 cash only figure for Denigris.

Charging documents say agents found about 34 grams of meth and a small amount of suspected LSD in Denigris’ camper on the property. Most of the meth was inside a safe that also held jewelers’ baggies, digital scales with meth residue and $4,000 in cash, the affidavit says.

An informant planned to buy meth from Denigris on Friday under DCI’s supervision, the document says, but agents scrapped that plan after obtaining the search warrant.

At Monday’s hearing, Tucker called the allegations against Denigris “very concerning.” She also misread the 34 grams (a little over 1 ounce) as 34 ounces, indicating to the court that agents had found more than 2.1 pounds of meth.

“There was definitely not that much,” Denigris responded, before the judge cut him off.

“It’s not going to do you one bit of good to talk about what did or didn’t happen or what was or was not there,” Darrah advised the defendant.

‘... that’s a misdemeanor?’

While five of the defendants were arrested at the residence on Friday morning, Wade was found several hours later, “attempting to evade arrest at a nearby apartment complex,” charging documents allege. As a result of that timing, he wound up being seen separately, at a Monday afternoon hearing.

Wade’s charging information accused him of “attempted possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance” — a felony offense — but then listed the statute and penalties for misdemeanor possession.

Wade expressed some confusion after Darrah read the charge.

“OK, and that’s a misdemeanor?” he asked.

Smith, the deputy prosecutor, later said the intent had been to charge Wade with a felony count of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.

She described Wade as both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

“However, he was only charged as he’s charged, and he has the right to post bond,” Smith said, suggesting bail be set at $1,000 cash.

Wade disputed the assertion that he was a flight risk and said he’s had no run-ins with the law since moving to Wyoming some time ago.

Darrah went with the $1,000 recommendation, which Wade soon posted. His bond conditions include participating in a pretrial testing program offered by the Park County drug court and having no contact with the other defendants in the case.

At the hearing, Smith said the mistake with the charging documents needed to be “remedied immediately.” The county attorney’s office had not filed any amendments or new charges in his case as of Wednesday, but did clean up other errors in Sanders’ and Denigris’ paperwork.

Sanders, Wade, Johnson and Carlson were all set for February trials in circuit court, while Denigris’ felony case is slated for a preliminary hearing next week. 

According to a recent public notice in the Cody Enterprise, a lender is currently seeking to foreclose on the 26th Street property. Though the sale could still be delayed or canceled, it’s tentatively scheduled to be sold at an auction next month.

(Editor's note: The original version of this story misstated Lindsi Sanders' bond amount.)