Clair McFarland

9 hours ago | cowboystatedaily.com | Clair McFarland

A former hotel housekeeper accused of stealing about $26,000 in coins has signed a plea agreement which, if the judge accepts it, will allow for three years of probation. Rene Maria Manzanares, 46, has agreed to give an “Alford” guilty plea to one count of felony theft, says a plea agreement filed Sunday in Laramie County District Court. An Alford plea works like a normal guilty plea but is merely an admission that the state has enough evidence to convict on the charge.

1 day ago | cowboystatedaily.com | Clair McFarland

The trespassing case of a Cheyenne man known for striding into local businesses with a staff in hand and pronouncing hexes on people is set for a bench trial next month, putting his fate in the hands of a judge rather than a jury of Laramie County residents. Joshua Hayden-Ali, 43, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he’s opting to go to a bench trial instead of a jury trial because he believes the outcome will be more favorable.

1 day ago | cowboystatedaily.com | Clair McFarland

An Uzbekistani truck driver was arrested Sunday after a road rage incident evolved into an alleged knife pursuit off Interstate-80 in Uinta County, court documents say. Alisher M Sabirov, 36, is a commercial semitruck driver who claims mixed martial arts experience, and who is now facing one count of aggravated assault (punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines) and another of reckless endangering (up to one year in jail and $750 in fines), in Evanston Circuit Court.

2 days ago | cowboystatedaily.com | Clair McFarland

Law enforcement on the Wind River Indian Reservation is investigating the case of a person found dead in the region Monday. The daughter of a man who has been missing since at least December told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday she’d received a tentative confirmation the decedent is her long-missing dad, Rex Allen Lofts. Lofts, 72, has been on the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s missing persons’ database for months. The agency reported he was last seen Dec. 14.

2 days ago | cowboystatedaily.com | Clair McFarland

Editor's note: This story contains graphic sexual descriptions. Read at your discretion. A Reliance, Wyoming, man who was originally accused of having images of sexually exposed children, babies, toddlers and deceased children has been sentenced to between 22 and 27 years in prison. Justin Ernest Golay, 34, received the sentence after pleading “no contest” to 23 of the 54 child pornography charges filed against him, says a Tuesday order by Sweetwater County District Court Judge Lavery.