For the last year and a half, state agents in Powell and Casper surveilled a group of people that they believed were trafficking drugs in Park County and other parts of the state.

That work — which included tapping a Cody man’s cell phone — reportedly paid off last month: Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents say they disrupted a planned sale in Casper and seized more than a pound and a half of methamphetamine from a Denver area supplier.

Authorities allege 41-year-old Brian Bland had driven up from Colorado with the intent to sell the meth to a Cody couple: William “Bill” Lee, 43, and his wife Wendy Lee, 49.

The three were arrested in Casper on March 24.

Based on the rates that local agents have paid in recent sting operations, the street value of the methamphetamine found in Bland’s vehicle potentially topped $100,000. However, the drug is cheaper to buy in bulk: Bill Lee had previously paid Bland $6,500 per pound of meth, DCI agents quote Lee as saying.

A fourth suspect, Phillip T. McGuire, 49, has also been arrested and charged in connection with the case. The Cheyenne man is alleged to have been involved with what DCI calls “an ongoing drug trafficking organization” operating in Park, Big Horn and Natrona counties.

McGuire is alleged to have acted as a middle man between Bland and Bill Lee.

Speaking to DCI agents after his arrest last month, Bill Lee “admitted that the methamphetamine he was obtaining from Bland was delivered by McGuire, and he [Lee] was then redistributing the methamphetamine to numerous individuals in Park County,” Powell-based Special Agent Darrell Steward wrote in an affidavit included in court records.

Agent Steward quotes Bill Lee as saying that he received 1 pound of meth from McGuire during a Jan. 27 meeting at Boysen Reservoir outside Shoshoni, and another pound during a Feb. 9 meet-up at a lodge outside Ten Sleep.

In connection with those allegations, McGuire has been charged with two felony counts of “enter[ing] into a conspiracy intended to have an effect on Park County” by agreeing to help deliver meth.

Conversations overheard by DCI agents and referenced in court records indicate that McGuire had fallen into Bland’s debt and was not a part of the busted sale in Casper.

In a Wednesday interview, Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric said that “additional people will be charged as the investigation continues and advances.”

“It’s an extremely large case, from what I can gather,” McGuire’s attorney, Michael Bennett of Cheyenne, said during a Friday bond hearing in Park County’s Circuit Court.

Bennett, who said his client is “asserting his innocence,” made the remark in arguing that it would be easier to work on McGuire’s defense if he was free on a surety bond. Bennett argued that McGuire is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.

However, in asking that bond remain at $50,000 cash only, Skoric referenced the relatively large quantities involved in the case.

“We’re not talking grams; we’re talking pounds,” he said in court on Friday. Skoric noted the allegations that McGuire — who’s currently on parole for a prior drug offense — delivered 2 pounds of meth to Bill Lee earlier this year.

“That’s significant weight and that’s significant distribution in this community,” Skoric said.

In leaving McGuire’s bond at $50,000, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters called it concerning that a parolee is alleged to have been involved with pounds of meth. The judge noted other defendants who appeared in court on Friday were there on charges related to the drug.

“Methamphetamine is a particularly unpleasant controlled substance and it has real impact on people and so if somebody’s in the business of delivering these ... that poses a substantial and significant danger to the public,” Waters said.

DCI’s investigation involved state law enforcement taking the unusual step of seeking and obtaining court approval to listen in on the calls and read text messages sent to Bill Lee via a wire intercept; that tactic tends to be used more often by the federal government.

Bill Lee, the subject of the wiretap, is facing the largest number of charges: Prosecutors in Park and Natrona counties have filed 19 felony counts against him.

The 17-count case pending against Bill Lee in Park County is currently sealed, but some basic information about the case has been included in public court records. Those documents indicate Lee is alleged to have been involved with possessing or delivering drugs on at least 13 separate occasions between October 2016 — that’s the month before DCI’s investigation reportedly began — up through late February of this year.

Another affidavit from Special Agent Brad Reinhart of Casper alleges Bill Lee was supplying meth to conspirators lower in the drug trafficking operation who were, in turn, selling the drugs to other people.

Reinhart says “numerous” confidential informants and confidential sources reported that Bill Lee would “front” them the methamphetamine — being repaid once they’d sold the drugs — and would also “receive sexual favors as partial payment for drug debts.” The unnamed sources also told DCI agents of “violence Lee would inflict … for non-payment over drug debts,” Reinhart said.

Bill Lee is currently awaiting an arraignment in Natrona County’s District Court on one count of possessing meth with intent to deliver and another of possessing more than 3 grams of methamphetamine. Although he and Wendy Lee never met up with Bland, DCI agents say Bill Lee was carrying 30.5 grams of meth at the time he was arrested; Wendy Lee, meanwhile, was carrying 4.6 grams of meth and had a small amount of apparent LSD inside her purse, charging documents say.

Wendy Lee is facing a felony count of possession for allegedly having more than 3 grams of meth and a misdemeanor count of possession relating to the alleged LSD. She’s also awaiting an arraignment in Natrona County.

Her Park County case has also been sealed, but court records show she’s facing three felony drug counts, relating to three instances of drug activity between last November and mid-March.

Wendy Lee’s bail is set at $15,000 cash or surety and Bill Lee’s stands at $50,000 cash or surety on their Natrona County cases.

Bland’s bond, meanwhile, is set at $250,000, cash or surety.

The Natrona County District Attorney’s Office has charged Bland with three felony counts: conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine, possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possessing more than 3 grams of methamphetamine.

Like McGuire, Colorado Department of Corrections records show Bland is currently on parole. Bland has so far chosen to represent himself.

Over the course of DCI’s lengthy investigation, “Agents have utilized many different investigative techniques to identify co-conspirators and understand the hierarchy of the organization,” agent Steward wrote in his affidavit.

Beyond the wiretap and interviews with confidential witnesses, agents obtained text messages and cell phone data, court records say.

For instance, Special Agent Chris Wallace — a Powell police officer currently on loan to DCI — obtained a warrant to track Bill Lee’s cell phone as he and Wendy Lee drove from Cody to Casper on March 23-24, while Reinhart got a warrant to track Bland’s cell phone pings as he drove from Colorado to Casper.

By that time, Park County prosecutors had already secured warrants for the Lees and DCI agents arrested the couple after they arrived in Casper. Lee then, under the watch of DCI agents, asked Bland to meet up; Bland was then taken into custody as well.

“Bland informed agents that he came to Casper to purchase a Jeep and didn’t know what Bill Lee was into,” agent Reinhart wrote.

However, under one of the seats of Bland’s 2010 Range Rover, agents say they found a duffle bag that held six bags of apparent meth that weighed roughly 1.5 pounds — 694 grams.

As of Wednesday evening, all four defendants remained in jail: Bland and the Lees in Casper and McGuire in Cody.