Scott Kitchen

The former director of the City of Cody’s IT department was arrested last week on allegations that he used the city’s credit card and deception to buy over $3,000 worth of items for himself and a family member.

Scott E. Kitchen is facing two felony counts of theft, which relate to purchases he allegedly made in 2024 and 2025.

Court records say Cody officials opened an investigation last fall, after they discovered an Amazon order that Kitchen had reported as a software purchase was actually for a high-end TV that he’d shipped to his home. Kitchen’s employment with the city reportedly ended in early December. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was later asked to look into the case, and the Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges on Wednesday.

Kitchen was arrested at his Cody residence on Friday evening. The 37-year-old was released from the Park County Detention Center roughly an hour later on a $3,000 cash bond.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele said the prosecution and defense had suggested potential bond conditions to Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah ahead of Kitchen’s arrest and the judge adopted Eichele’s recommendation. The judge and parties reaffirmed those bond conditions at a Monday afternoon hearing in circuit court.

“I believe they’re appropriate at this point,” Eichele said of the conditions, to agreement from Kitchen’s defense attorney, Sam Krone.

AI-modified receipts

Affidavits composed by DCI Special Agent Ryan Wangberg and included in court records indicate the city began investigating Kitchen in October 2025.

According to the allegations laid out in the documents, Kitchen turned in a receipt indicating that he’d used the City of Cody’s Amazon account to buy a pair of Adobe Creative Cloud Pro licenses for $1,800. However, Amazon’s records showed the Oct. 16 purchase was for a 65-inch 8K Samsung television, Wangberg wrote.

Charging documents say the city formally notified Kitchen on Nov. 5 that he was under investigation. In a subsequent audit, “multiple purchases made through the City of Cody’s Amazon account were found to be suspicious,” Wangberg wrote.

Additionally, the court records allege Kitchen admitted to turning in inaccurate receipts.

“I’ll be straightforward and take accountability for the errors in those submitted receipts, which were forwarded emails that I intentionally modified using AI workflows,” Kitchen reportedly wrote in a Nov. 17 email to the city.

A filing in a pending divorce case says Kitchen’s employment with the city ended on Dec. 8, though the Tribune was unable to confirm that date before press time.

The wrong television

Agent Wangberg said he was asked to investigate the allegations in late January, and he met with Cody City Administrator Tony Tolstedt in March. The agent said Tolstedt pointed out discrepancies for multiple purchases, including for computers, laptops, printers, keyboards, webcams, cellphones, sound bars, digital storage devices, WiFi routers and other electronic office equipment, the affidavit says.

The belief, Wangberg wrote, was that Kitchen had modified some Amazon receipts by replacing his actual purchases with items of equal value.

In the case of the Samsung TV, the affidavit indicates it was initially delivered to Kitchen’s home, and what was believed to be the device was later brought to City Hall. However, when Wangberg powered that TV on, he found it was a much cheaper model that retailed for about $400.

Wangberg said that led him to conclude that Kitchen “had received the higher value TV, kept it, and delivered a cheaper version of the Samsung TV to the City of Cody.”

The agent ultimately wound up finding the TV at Kitchen’s home on March 12, court records say. DCI seized it, along with a Logitech MX mouse and a Lamicall floor stand for a tablet device, court records show.

Two different charges

Additionally, Wangberg said he learned that Kitchen had used the City of Cody’s Amazon account to purchase $1,339.48 worth of items that he sent to a family member in another state. Those items — which are not specifically identified in the charging documents — were reportedly purchased on June 10, 2024.

One of the felony charges relates to any theft allegations that occurred between January 2022 and June 2024, while the other relates to any thefts between July 2024 and November 2025.

A preliminary hearing in the case was tentatively scheduled for July 22, but that will likely be delayed, as Kitchen has reportedly waived his right to a speedy hearing.