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More than eight years after he jumped bail, a former Cody man remains at large on a felony drug charge. And while authorities don’t know Michael J. Owens’ current whereabouts, they are getting …
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More than eight years after he jumped bail, a former Cody man remains at large on a felony drug charge. And while authorities don’t know Michael J. Owens’ current whereabouts, they are getting some of the bail money that one of Owens’ family members posted on his behalf.
Earlier this month, District Court Judge Bobbi Overfield granted a request from Park County prosecutors and ruled that $5,000 of the $15,000 put up by Owens’ mother in late 2017 should be forfeited to the government. As per state law, the cash is set to be divided among Park County’s three school districts.
The underlying case stems from allegations that Owens sold meth to an informant working for the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in September 2014. Charging documents say DCI agents watched Owens at his auto repair shop as he received $300 and then handed 2 grams of meth to the informant.
The county attorney’s office charged Owens in the spring of 2015 with a felony count of delivering a controlled substance. He soon posted $10,000 to make bail and pleaded not guilty, then his case slowed to a crawl.
Owens was set to change his plea and be sentenced in April 2017, but the hearing was delayed at the request of his then-attorney/now-District Court Judge Bill Simpson (the judge is no longer involved with the case). Owens then ran into more trouble later that year.
Court records say Cody Police Officer Blake Stinson stopped by Owens’ business late one night in September 2017 and demanded a urine sample. Owens was rearrested when he tested positive for meth and benzodiazepines and, after he later refused another test the following month, his bond was hiked to $15,000 cash.
Owens’ mother posted that sum in late October 2017 and he was released again. However, a warrant was issued for his arrest in January 2018, after he failed to show up for a mandatory court hearing. The Park County Attorney’s Office formally moved to revoke and forfeit Owens’ bond in early 2024 and in an April 3 order, Overfield agreed to turn $5,000 over to the state.
Though warrants for the now-57-year-old Owens remain active, “to date, the Defendant has not appeared before this Court,” the judge noted.
