Wayne Wright II

Korrine McKay

• 
• 

Following a months-long investigation, authorities say they nabbed two Cody residents shuttling 7,000 fentanyl-laced tablets and a pound of meth from the Denver area to Park County.

Korrine McKay, 35, and Wayne W. Wright II, 58, were pulled over and then arrested by agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation south of Meeteetse last week.

Wright and McKay are each facing four felony drug charges: possessing meth and fentanyl with intent to deliver and conspiring to possess meth and fentanyl with intent to deliver. As of Monday, both were being held in the Park County Detention Center, with bails set at $500,000 cash.

“This is about as bad as a public safety concern that I consider coming before me,” Park County Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah said in agreeing with the bond recommendations made by Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric.

Given the over 100,000 deaths that fentanyl causes across the country every year, “the danger of the community that this defendant poses is very, very high,” Skoric said, referring to McKay.

The prosecutor also argued that the state’s case is strong and noted that the pair has faced allegations of drug dealing in the past.

Surveilling and stopping

Before last week’s arrest, McKay was already facing four other felony drug charges for allegedly selling meth to a DCI informant in May 2023 and getting caught with fentanyl, meth and other drugs in July 2023.

McKay had been out on a $7,500 surety bond roughly a year when DCI agents opened a new investigation. In an affidavit, DCI Special Agent Shane Reece said they received “various information” in July that indicated McKay was selling fentanyl in the area. The agents concluded that McKay and others were acquiring tablets in Colorado and learned through “various investigative techniques” that she and Wright were making a trip to Aurora on Sept. 22, the affidavit says.

Agents surveilled McKay and Wright on their return trip on Sept. 23, and had the Park County Sheriff’s Office stop their 2017 Ford Focus on Wyo. Highway 120S. The two suspects allegedly gave officers conflicting statements about where they’d been and why they were traveling.

After obtaining a search warrant for the Ford, agents allegedly found 2,000 apparent fentanyl tablets stashed under McKay’s seat and meth in her purse.

The trunk of the car, meanwhile, allegedly held another 5,000 fentanyl tablets, over 450 grams of suspected meth, $7,000 in cash and what Reece described as a “sale kit” — made up of scales, scoops and baggies.

Given current street prices, the combined street value of the fentanyl and meth would easily approach $250,000.

‘I was just the driver’

At Thursday’s hearing in Park County Circuit Court, McKay expressed a desire to enter treatment and asked for a bond she could afford, saying she needs to care for her four children.

“I will do an ankle monitor, I will stay in Park County, I’ll do whatever you want, like, just [set] something affordable,” McKay said. “Isn’t that a right of mine as an American citizen?”

Darrah, however, said his job is to make sure that bond is reasonable. While noting that McKay is presumed to be innocent, the judge said the state’s case “appears to be very strong” and expressed concern about the dangers of fentanyl.

“We all know people who have died from overdoses of counterfeit pills, and … there’s enough fentanyl here to kill several people, at least what’s been alleged,” Darrah said. “And I have to consider this a huge public safety concern.”

McKay interjected to reiterate that she was willing to do “anything” to get a lower bond, but Darrah said he was going to follow the prosecution’s recommendation.

McKay appeared frustrated by the decision, leaving the table at the detention center and muttering while the judge finished going through the other terms of her bond.

Wright, who was convicted of felony drug crimes for his role in a meth distribution ring in 2017, also made a case to be released. 

He offered that, “I was just the driver in this …,” before Darrah warned him to stop speaking about the allegations.

Wright said it had been hard to control his diabetes while incarcerated — he had to be provided with some glucose tablets during the hearing — and that he needed to take care of his daughter’s two dogs. She also spoke, asking the judge to lower the bond a little bit from the $500,000.

“Under the circumstances, I can’t do that,” Darrah responded, reiterating his concerns about fentanyl.

Preliminary hearings for Wright and McKay are tentatively set for Thursday morning.