Marc Cantrell

Over nearly a decade of sobriety, Marc Cantrell said he had a good life: The 45-year-old was raising a family, driving a commercial truck and running a mechanic shop in Powell.

But Cantrell said the sudden loss of a family member led to a relapse in late 2022. A series of arrests around the Big Horn Basin followed: In March 2023, federal and state agents caught Cantrell picking up a package of drugs at the Lovell post office; in April 2024, he allegedly tried stealing a $1,400 check from a former employer in Hot Springs County; and last fall, while both of those cases were still pending, Cody police found thousands of dollars worth of meth in his car.

Cantrell received five to seven years of prison time in Big Horn County for the package of meth plus another two to three years behind bars for the Cody case. The Hot Springs County case has yet to be resolved.

Speaking at his sentencing in Park County District Court last week, Cantrell said the death of his brother was not a justification for using drugs.

“I know what I did was wrong,” he said, adding, “I’m trying to get back on track, after 10 years of sobriety. I beat myself up every day for my relapse.”

He asked that his Park County sentence run at the same time as the one in Big Horn County, but that wasn’t the deal he’d struck with prosecutors. As a result, District Judge Bill Simpson tacked on the additional time, bringing Cantrell’s current sentence to seven to 10 years.

“Methamphetamine is such a deadly, dangerous drug, and you know, once it gets a hold on you, it just, it never lets up,” Simpson said, “and you have to be forever vigilant — day in, day out, hour by hour, minute by minute. You can’t let it creep back into your life.”

Suspicious package in Lovell

Cantrell set off red flags with the Lovell postmaster in March 2023, when he made multiple inquiries about a package while it was in transit from Iowa — reportedly going as far as to “chase down” his mail carrier to ask about it.

Cantrell initially told the post office that the package held a $30,000 check, then clarified that it also held cremated remains.

The suspicious behavior and the conflicting stories were enough to trigger an investigation by Postal Inspector R.J. Fergon, who had the package held at the post office.

When Cantrell arrived to pick it up, Fergon and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Shane Reece stopped him and asked if they could open it up; they say Cantrell agreed, and inside, they found an infant’s onesie wrapped around a baggie containing 10 grams of meth.

Cantrell and his defense attorney argued the agents had violated his constitutional rights in searching the package and sifting through a slew of personal data on his phone. His attorney and Big Horn County prosecutors made a deal in January 2024: Cantrell pleaded guilty to felony possession of meth and prosecutors stipulated to a sentence of probation. But his subsequent actions ultimately turned that into prison time.

Check trouble in Grass Creek

While he was awaiting sentencing in Big Horn County, in April 2024, Cantrell was accused of stealing and attempting to cash a $1,391.10 check at a business in Billings; the check had reportedly been written out to his former employer, a ranch in the Grass Creek area.

Cantrell was arrested in May 2024 and charged with felony theft.

He allegedly told authorities that the ranch owed him money and later told court officials he never signed or cashed the check. (Charging documents say the Billings business turned him away.)

Plus, Cantrell wrote to the court, “I didn’t commit a crime in wyoming. I was in montana.”

The case remains pending.

Meth in Cody

After making bail again, Cantrell was rearrested in Cody in November.

An anonymous caller reportedly started the case, telling Cody police that Cantrell “had a large bag of cocaine and was using [it] in front of a juvenile,” Officer Blake Stinson wrote in an affidavit.

Stinson soon spotted Cantrell driving on Sheridan Avenue and said “the window tint of the vehicle appeared illegal.”

He pulled Cantrell over and, after “some heated discussion” about the tint on the Ford Edge, concluded the visible light transmission was 20% and below Wyoming’s 28% limit.

Stinson said Cantrell was uncooperative and didn’t want his vehicle to be searched, but police seized the SUV and later obtained a search warrant from Simpson.

They reportedly found 44 grams of meth in a glasses case, plus a digital scale, multiple cellphones, a half-dozen pills and “numerous small ziplock bags commonly used in the sale of controlled substance[s].”

That arrest led to Cantrell’s guilty plea and prison sentence in Park County last week, for a felony count of possession with intent to deliver.

In response to a question from Simpson, Cantrell said he “absolutely” has the strength to stay clean and sober whenever he’s released from custody. He noted he’s been taking classes on substance use since his arrest and has been seeking treatment. 

“You’re going to have to stay strong,” Simpson said, adding, “a lot of this strength has to come from within. There’s only so much that the system can do.”