Justin Barrington

A Cody man who abused three different romantic partners over the past five years is being sent to prison.

Justin V. Barrington, 34, recently received five to seven years for strangling, stalking and assaulting women in Powell, Cody and Billings, respectively. 

The first victim

The series of crimes started in December 2021, when he reportedly choked his then-girlfriend unconscious at their Powell residence. Barrington was convicted of felony strangulation of a household member and placed on probation. The couple reconciled, but in June 2024, Barrington allegedly got in another dispute with the woman and threatened to release intimate images of her if she didn’t return to their home. In a phone call overheard by a Powell police officer, Barrington also reportedly made other threatening remarks, including saying that he knew where the woman’s family members lived.

The Park County Attorney’s Office initially filed felony charges against Barrington for the 2024 incident, including blackmail, but later dropped the case and just extended his probation on the earlier strangulation conviction. At his December 2024 sentencing hearing, Barrington’s issues were attributed to alcohol abuse; he told the court he’d obtained psychiatric help, had undergone treatment and wouldn’t drink again.

District Court Judge Bill Simpson accepted the deal, but warned Barrington not to return to court or “you’re going to go to the penitentiary.”

The second victim

Barrington moved on and married a Cody woman in May 2025. But just weeks later, in July 2025, the woman told Cody police that she and Barrington had separated and that he was stalking her; she alleged in part that Barrington had installed spyware on her phone to track what she was doing, then later stole her phone from her and repeatedly refused to give it back until she had sex with him.

Prosecutors filed multiple felony charges for the incident. For his part, Barrington contended through his attorney that their relationship had been consensual. He was released on a $50,000 cash bond in August 2025, but re-arrested the following month after he assaulted a new girlfriend in Billings.

The third victim

The woman reportedly told Billings police that she tried screaming and calling for help, but that Barrington took her phone and covered her nose and mouth with his hand three separate times.

Barrington spent roughly 10 months in a Billings jail before taking a plea deal in late July. He was convicted in Yellowstone County, Montana, District Court of a felony count of causing bodily injury to a partner for a third or subsequent and a misdemeanor count of partner assault; three other charges, including a felony count of strangulation of a partner, were dismissed.

Barrington received a sentence of probation, with five years of prison time suspended, and was then shuttled back to the Park County Detention Center in Cody.

He accepted another deal from Park County prosecutors in September that resolved his remaining cases. 

The resolution

On Sept. 23, Barrington pleaded no contest to a felony count of burglary and misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and stalking in connection with the 2025 incident with his then-wife in Cody. He also agreed that he’d violated the terms of the probation he was still serving for strangling the Powell woman in 2021.

Judge Simpson accepted the deal and imposed a cumulative total of five to seven years of prison time. The paperwork was finalized earlier this month, but the parties still need to determine how much time Barrington has served.

As part of the deal, the county attorney’s office agreed that it wouldn’t seek to have Barrington’s $50,000 cash bond forfeited to the state; Barrington’s attorney said in a filing that Barrington borrowed the money from his mother’s retirement funds and “a forfeiture of bond would cause an undue hardship for her financially.”

The defendant will, however, have to pay $525 in assessments.

As of Monday, Barrington remained in the Cody jail, awaiting transport to a Wyoming Department of Corrections facility.