While driving his child to school in the fall of 2023, a Cody man spotted a police officer following him, quickly parked and took off running.

The officer suspected a driving violation, but Levi Howes was also in the midst of some more serious crimes. Howes turned a corner, parked his Honda sedan and ran — leaving behind his 5-year-old, dozens of rounds of ammo and a safe holding meth and other drugs.

The incident recently resulted in three felony convictions for Howes and a six- to 15-year prison sentence.

At a hearing last fall, Howes indicated he had three prior felonies — including one related to drugs — and had already served over 10 years in prison.

“Do you think you’re ever going to learn your lesson, or is this just going to be a revolving door and you’ll spend the rest of your life in and out of prison?” Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson asked at the November hearing, adding, “Why is this time different than the last time?”

Howes told the court that he now has more support. The 37-year-old also said that, unlike previous, shorter stints out of jail, he’d built up three years of sobriety and success before his November 2023 arrest in Cody.

Howes told the court he relapsed after losing his home, “and life kind of spun out of control in a matter of a few months.”

The traffic stop

Cody Police Officer Tanner Wichern spotted Howes driving on a suspended license on the morning of Nov. 17, 2023. But before Wichern could pull the Honda sedan over, Howes parked on 19th Street and took off running, leaving his 5-year-old inside the idling vehicle.

Officer Wichern took up the foot chase and arrested Howes in a nearby backyard.

Police found one small baggie of meth in Howes’ pocket and another on the ground that held 8.5 grams of meth, an affidavit from Wichern says. They also found 150 rounds of .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire ammunition in Howes’ vehicle — a potential federal problem given his prior felonies — and a small black safe.

Court documents quote Howes as saying there were fentanyl pills and/or marijuana in the safe. At his hearing last fall, he specifically admitted it held methamphetamine that he intended to share, give away or sell to others.

According to a filing from the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Howes told authorities he’d lost his job and began selling meth as a way to provide for his family. The filing asserts that Howes had been obtaining meth from a supplier in Powell and reselling it for roughly a year.

Police also found $2,460 in his wallet. Last June, while the criminal case was still pending, Simpson approved a request from the attorney general and turned the money over to the state government because of its ties to drugs. 

In addition to losing that cash, Howes was also ordered to pay $725 to the court in various fees and assessments in the criminal case as a part of his March 24 sentence.

Reaching a deal

As part of a plea deal, Howes admitted to felony counts of: possessing meth with intent to deliver, possessing more than 3 grams of meth and endangering a child by allowing them to remain in an area where meth is possessed, stored or ingested. Four other charges — another felony and three misdemeanors — were dismissed.

Given Howes’ prior convictions, Simpson described the deal as the defendant’s “last chance.”

Howes said he’d gotten the message and understood he needed help.

“... I’ve got it together and in the right direction,” he said at the November hearing.

His wife submitted a letter of support ahead of his March sentencing hearing, saying Howe has had a positive impact on his family.

“I understand that the court must consider the facts of the case at hand,” she wrote in part. “However, I respectfully ask that you also consider my husband’s role as a dedicated and loving spouse and parent. As he has always been.”

Howes served nearly 500 days in jail while his case was pending, being unable to post a $50,000 bond. That time will count toward his sentence.

(Editor's note: This version removes an inaccurate estimate of the potential time remaining on the sentence.)