Prosecutors have yet to prove their cases against some local residents who allegedly conspired to bring thousands of fentanyl pills and a pound of meth into Park County last fall. However, although the criminal charges remain pending, a judge has already ruled in a separate, civil proceeding that the state government gets to keep one suspect’s vehicle and $7,000 found inside.

Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson ordered the forfeiture of the property last week, writing that the money and the 2017 Ford Focus were “knowingly and unlawfully used, or intended for use, in violation of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act …”

The Ford hatchback had belonged to 58-year-old Wayne Wright II of Cody — a man who authorities believe was a large-scale distributor of meth in the area. The ownership of the cash is less clear, but the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office says roughly $3,000 belonged to 65-year-old Ed Higbie Jr. of Billings. Authorities allege that Higbie, who previously lived in Cody, was a significant distributor of fentanyl in the region.

The attorney general’s office is also hoping to lay claim to another $4,500 and a gun that officers seized from Higbie in a separate incident.

September arrests

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Park County Sheriff's Office stopped the Focus just south of Meeteetse on Sept. 23. A months-long investigation had led DCI to believe that Wright and his passenger, 35-year-old Korrine Santini McKay, were returning to Cody after picking up drugs in Colorado. Charging documents say a search of the vehicle and the pair’s possessions turned up 7,000 fentanyl tablets, 543 grams of meth, 412 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, digital scales and other components of an apparent “sale kit.” The cash was found in a silver bank bag in the trunk.

McKay reportedly told DCI agents that most of the drugs belonged to Wright, but she allegedly took responsibility for the 2,000 fentanyl pills found beneath her seat, indicating she’d bought them on the trip for $2,500.

Some of the other newly purchased pills were reportedly headed to Higbie, who allegedly told agents that $3,000 of the cash was his.

DCI Special Agent Shane Reece has also testified that roughly 3,000 of the seized pills had been acquired on a prior run to Colorado. The defendants believed those pills were “weak” and tried returning them to the dealer, but wound up stuck with them, Reece relayed at a hearing.

Wright and McKay have been jailed since their September arrest, with bail set at $500,000. They’re each facing four felony charges.

Higbie was arrested a month later, allegedly getting caught amid his own Colorado drug run. Higbie was pulled over on Oct. 24 south of Buffalo, and a DCI search of him and his truck reportedly turned up 3,500 apparent fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, $4,537 in cash and a Glock 22 handgun.

Higbie and a passenger in the vehicle, 42-year-old Alex Cervantes of Thornton, Colorado, were each charged with felony drug offenses.

Higbie waived his right to a preliminary hearing last week and will next enter a plea in Johnson County District Court. He is free on a $50,000 bond.

Cervantes, meanwhile, remains in custody, unable to post a $25,000 cash or surety bond. He has pleaded not guilty and is set for a May trial.

McKay and Wright have also denied the charges against them and are set for trials in March and April in Cody, respectively. McKay sought to be released on bond last week to attend a treatment program in Sheridan, but District Court Judge Bill Simpson denied that request.

A civil matter

While the criminal cases remain pending, the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office has moved forward with civil cases seeking to claim some of the seized items.

The office filed a complaint for forfeiture in early December against Wright’s Ford Focus and the $7,000 in cash seized in September. Senior Assistant Attorney General Kellsie Singleton said the property was used or intended to be used to break the state’s drug laws. 

Unlike criminal cases, where prosecutors must prove a person’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” civil forfeiture proceedings are filed against the property and involve the lower evidentiary standard of “clear and convincing evidence.”

In this case, however, the state didn’t have to prove anything, as Wright, McKay and Higbie didn’t respond to the complaint. Judge Simpson issued a default judgment and formally turned the property over to the government on Jan. 30.

The attorney general’s office estimates that the Ford Focus is worth about $11,000, which would bring the state’s total take to around $18,000.

The complaint said the forfeitures were, as state law requires, “not grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the underlying offense.” Though it wasn’t mentioned in the filing, based on local drug prices seen by DCI, the street value of the fentanyl and meth seized from Wright and McKay could have approached $250,000.

A DCI webpage on forfeiture proceedings indicates that the Ford will be sold at a public auction, with all of the money going toward drug enforcement efforts in Wyoming.

The attorney general’s office also recently filed another complaint that seeks to also keep the Glock and the $4,537 that agents seized from Higbie outside of Buffalo. He and any other potential claimants have until late February to respond.