A Casper man was sentenced to almost 20 years in federal prison last month after pleading guilty to his role in a methamphetamine delivery conspiracy in Natrona County. Two Casper co-conspirators, as well as their source of supply in Colorado, were sentenced recently, according to a Justice Department release issued on Friday.
In the fall of 2023, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations investigators discovered that Casper residents William James Varney, Julia Carlene Deshaw, and Gerald Lee Dehnert were driving to Colorado and returned with 1–5 pounds of methamphetamine at a time.
Agents identified the supplier as Jolyn Furley of Thornton, Colorado, using surveillance and other investigative measures.
On April 12, 2024, agents traced Varney’s vehicle as he traveled to Colorado, stopping at areas familiar to the inquiry. Wyoming Highway Patrol and Natrona County Sheriff’s Office personnel waited with a search warrant for the vehicle to return to Casper.
Varney ran for almost 3 miles (ca. 5 km) after officers initiated the traffic stop at 9:15 p.m., reaching speeds of more than 100 mph (ca. 161 km/h), according to the affidavit. Varney’s Nissan Sentra came to a stop in the median as a trooper intervened with his tactical vehicle.
According to the affidavit, around 2.8 pounds (1.27 kg) of suspected methamphetamine were discovered on the road less than a hundred yards from where the car had come to a stop.
All four defendants faced U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson in Cheyenne.
Varney, 56, was sentenced to 235 months in prison and five years of supervised release on March 14. Deshaw, 56, received a 12-year federal prison sentence on the same day.
Dehnert, 65, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on April 1.
Furley, 50, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on March 28.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and the Mills Police Department all investigated the crime. Assistant United States Attorney Z. Seth Griswold prosecuted the case.
