CASPER, Wyo. — A former deputy Natrona County Coroner and nonprofit founder has been named alongside three others, including two of her children, as co-conspirators in a fentanyl distribution case begun last year by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations.
All defendants and suspects named in the following matters are presumed innocent until proven or pleading guilty.
Mari June Manthei-Robinson, 59, who until recently was employed as a deputy county coroner, was charged with possession and conspiracy to delivery fentanyl in Natrona County Circuit Court on Nov. 23.
Her daughter, 31-year-old Braunwyn Cheyenne Eaby, and Eaby’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Torrey Miller-Topping, also appeared on conspiracy, possession, and child endangerment charges.
All three were arrested Nov. 22 when DCI agents executed a search warrant on properties in Mills owned by Manthei-Robinson. Investigators say they found 130 presumptive positive fentanyl tablets. About 2.3 grams of methamphetamine was also found in a backpack believed to be Miller-Topping’s, according to the affidavit.
On the same day, DCI searched the couple’s Andrea Lane apartment, where Eaby’s child also lived, and found about 40 grams of suspected methamphetamine, according to the affidavit.
DCI notes that, as a deputy coroner, Manthei-Robinson had access to overdose investigations where controlled substances were present, though she denied to investigators that she ever took drugs from any scene, according to the affidavit.
Manthei-Robinson was also the founder and executive director of Drew’s Decision, a suicide prevention nonprofit located in Mills. DCI notes that substance addiction is often a component of mental health struggles. DCI considers the contact with the nonprofits’ clients and her capacity as a deputy coroner to be aggravating factors in the investigation.
DCI notes that Manthei-Robinson was present at the investigation of an overdose death in late July. DCI said Manthei-Robinson later requested DCI reports related to the investigation. The agent writing the affidavit called this “very suspicious” and believed that Manthei-Robinson was worried about the alleged connection between her children another person present at the overdose.
Manthei-Robinson’s son, Bryson Manthei, is also named in the DCI affidavit as a supplier of fentanyl to a confidential source between November 2021 and May 2022. Agents believe that Manthei had been traveling to Colorado to purchase fentanyl from Miller-Topping, who moved to Casper from Colorado eight months ago, according to the affidavit.
Manthei heard six misdemeanor possession charges in circuit court on Oct. 25. A warrant has yet to be issued for his arrest in the conspiracy case, though DCI has presented charges to the District Attorney’s office for consideration, according to team leader of the Casper DCI office Ryan Cox.
Manthei-Robinson was charged with conspiracy to deliver fentanyl and possession of fentanyl, and bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety.
Miller-Topping heard two charges of conspiracy to deliver fentanyl, possession of fentanyl, and child endangerment. He is also wanted in Colorado for failure to appear on possession charges. A $15,000 cash-only bond was issued on that warrant, and a $4,500 cash-only bond was issued on the Natrona County charges.
Eaby was charged with possession of methamphetamine, conspiracy to deliver fentanyl, and child endangerment. Bond was set at $7,500 cash or surety bond.
NOTE: This article has been updated to remove the name of an individual named in the affidavit but who has not been charged with distribution of controlled substances.
