CASPER, Wyo. — Here are reports from hearings on felony cases held last week in Natrona County District Court, with links to case coverage
Repeat Shoplifting, Drug Distribution, Federal Indictment
A Casper man was sentenced to up to 16 years in prison after Judge Josh Eames ran separate theft and drug delivery convictions consecutively. The defendant is also facing a federal indictment for being a felon and drug user in possession of a firearm.
Jesse Alexander Mostaert, 33, had multiple theft warrants when police found him in east Casper on Feb. 8. According to the Casper Police Department report, Mostaert ran and attempted to pull a handgun out of his waistband before his arrest.
Police responding to a shoplifting at the Eastridge Mall on Oct. 22, 2023, reportedly found Mostaert’s vehicle abandoned with merchandise from Spencer’s, Best Buy and Pro-Image inside. Mostaert also stole a Chapstick and an as-seen-on-TV power scrubber from the Dollar General in Mills on Nov. 10, according to the report.
Under recent changes in the law, someone with four previous petty theft convictions can get a felony charge on the fifth, even if the value of the stolen property is less than $1,000.
Mosteaert was also sentenced for drug distribution. Prosecutor Ava Covert said Mostaert sold over a dozen fentanyl pills to undercover agents.
DUI with Serious Bodily Injury
A 21-year-old Casper man got a five- to seven-year suspended sentence for a drunk driving crash two years ago that injured four passengers. Prosecutor Blaine Nelson said some of those passengers will have lifetime impacts.
Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the west end of Casper Mountain on Coal Mountain Road shortly before midnight on April 30, 2022, to disband a bonfire where minors were drinking. Brandon Steele, then 19 years old, reportedly drove off in a truck with his friends and reached 65 mph on the winding road before the truck rolled, resulting in serious but non-life-threatening injuries for some of the passengers. Charges were not filed until a year later due to the double-homicide investigation that occupied investigators later that summer, Nelson said.
“I understand the gravity of my actions,” Steele said at sentencing last week. “Those were my best friends; I know I should not have taken the wheel.” Nelson said Steele’s blood-alcohol concentration was likely .13% at the time of the crash.
“No one will be the same from that day,” Steele’s public defender, Tim Cotton, said. “And he misses the camaraderie of his friends.” Cotton noted Steele’s compliance with bond conditions and modified behavior even in the year following the incident before charges were filed. He said Steele has also been gainfully employed in the oil field.
Judge Kerri Johnson said the suspended sentence was “a close call.” Steel is also ordered to pay nearly $10,000 in restitution to two of the passengers.
Fentanyl Distribution
A 36-year-old Casper woman was sentenced to six to eight years in prison for charges related to the distribution of fentanyl. Katleen Joy Linsday was sentenced before Judge Catherine Wilking on Thursday, June 19. Prosecutor Ava Covert also said at that hearing that Lindsay was facing a federal indictment related to the case.
Lindsay and several others were identified as co-conspirators in the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations case last November, according to the affidavit. One source told agents that Lindsay had been selling 2,000 fentanyl pills a week for several months, traveling to Colorado for supply several times a week.
DCI agents got a warrant to install a tracking device on the vehicle and pulled it over on Interstate 25 in the Casper area on Dec. 7, 2023. The search yielded about 1,000 suspected fentanyl pills and 27.7 grams of suspected methamphetamine, according to the affidavit.
Conspiracy charges were filed about a month later after analysis of the defendants’ cell phone records. Lindsay had also pleaded guilty to forgery for signing herself out of jail on cellmate Linsey Bondi’s release form last September. “I realized it was not myself,” Lindsay explained when changing her plea in March.
