Wyoming News Briefs

Man accused of stealing from ATMs faces federal charges

CODY (WNE) — A Brazilian man is now facing federal criminal charges for allegedly stealing nearly $8000 from Park County ATM machines in recent weeks.

Allisson Bebiano, 29, is facing three felony charges in federal courts after he was initially charged on 17 different counts in Park County. On Dec. 6, deputy Park County prosecuting attorney Larry Eichele submitted a motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice as, “it is in the best interest of justice,” Eichele wrote in the filing, to allow for the federal prosecution to proceed.

The new charges are attempting to use a counterfeit access device, using unauthorized access devices to obtain $1000 or more and possessing device-making equipment that affected interstate commerce. He could receive up to 35 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if found guilty on all counts.

Bebiano had been held in the Park County Detention Center with a $500,000 bond but is no longer in custody at the local facility. He is now at the Natrona County Detention Center and scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich for a detention hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Casper.

Over a few weeks in late October into mid November, Cody police investigated surveillance footage from banks after being alerted of fraudulent withdrawals stemming from the ATM machines. In 14 instances, Bebiano allegedly withdrew a total of $7960 from ATMs belonging to Big Horn Federal Savings Bank.

Change of venue request in assault trial denied

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A change-of-venue motion filed on behalf of a man accused of kidnapping and beating his then-wife was denied Monday by Laramie County District Judge Steven Sharpe.

Daniel Doby was arrested July 24, 2017, and charged with kidnapping with inflicting bodily injury, first-degree sexual assault, aggravated assault and battery with a threat and deadly weapon, two counts of applying pressure on the throat or neck, blocking the nose or mouth, interference with an emergency call and domestic battery.

The motion called for a change of venue due to “inflammatory” newspaper articles published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Sharpe denied the motion Monday morning in Laramie County District Court because he said the proper test to see if a jury was prejudiced would come during voir dire, which is the jury selection process. Sharpe said he has presided over a lot of trials that received publicity, even national publicity, and during jury selection, very few of the jurors had even read or heard about those cases.

Doby’s attorney, Robert Moxley, filed the motion Nov. 8, and Doby’s trial was originally scheduled for Dec. 10. Due to the pending motions, however, it has been delayed until Jan. 27.

During the hearing, Moxley said he believed the content of the newspaper articles was “egregious.”

Prosecuting attorney Caitlin Harper said the state is frustrated with the motion because Moxley was quoted in an article in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. She said it seems Moxley is manufacturing a need for a change of venue.

Group leaves $700 tip for Powell waitress

POWELL (WNE) — Waitress Candy (Shanks) Christiansen was left speechless.

As she started to clear the table after serving breakfast to a group of eight Tuesday morning, Dec. 10 at Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant in Powell, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She had just exchanged Christmas greetings with the group’s host, who stepped away, saying, “Your tip is on the table.”

Sitting there was a pile of cash totaling $700.

“All I could say was ‘Oh, my God. Oh, my God,’” Christiansen recounted later. “I took it back to show Priscilla [Pepe’s co-owner Priscilla Stringari]. They left me this much. I couldn’t believe it.”

The act of Christmas kindness took root from a Facebook post which caught the eye of Bobbie Colvin, the records/communication supervisor at the Powell Police Department. She saw a report of a group of women who get together every year during the holidays to perform a random act of kindness.

Colvin “liked” the post, along with others. In response, she put out a message seeking people who would like to join in helping someone who wasn’t asking for help. That led to the breakfast gathering at Pepe’s, bringing together a group of people, not all of whom even knew each other.

“Candy’s been a hard worker all her life,” Colvin said. “She has a disabled son at home, but she goes down there [to Pepe’s] every day with a smile on her face.”

The unexpected gift is going to help out at Christmas, Christiansen said. It will help her provide for her son, Tyler, 25.

WBC chief operating officer named interim CEO

EVANSTON (WNE) — Wyoming Business Council Chief Operating Officer Amy Grenfell was recently named interim CEO of the organization. Grenfell, a former Evanston city clerk and Kemmerer native, took the helm on Friday. 

The CEO Search Committee intends to conduct final interviews for the position on Jan. 8. Grenfell will serve as CEO until the new hire’s start date. 

“The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors is confident in Amy’s leadership during this transition,” Board Co-Chair Megan Goetz said. “The search committee is working hard to fill the position with the right person as soon as possible, and we know the Business Council is in good hands in the meantime.” 

Grenfell has worked closely with outgoing CEO Shawn Reese to create a culture of teamwork, creativity and leadership at the Business Council while advancing the state’s economic development and diversification goals. 

“I’m proud to take the reins temporarily while the search committee finds the perfect person to lead this hardworking group of professionals,” Grenfell said. 

Cheyenne mayor repays $600

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Mayor Marian Orr has reimbursed the city close to $600 for expenditures pulled from the city’s $100,000 Bloomberg Philanthropies grant.

Some of that money was for a ticket for Orr’s husband to attend the Governor’s Arts Awards in 2018. Some was for meals on business trips that covered Orr and her husband, so her husband’s portion of the bill was reimbursed. And some was for personal expenses that were not reimbursed after the mayor participated in the five-day Harvard Kennedy Leadership Class.

In a memo to the Cheyenne City Council, Orr said, “After three years in office and thousands of expenses later, I am responsible for any mistakes – no matter how innocent or inadvertent those mistakes were.”

The mayor’s spending has been scrutinized in recent months following the announcement that the city would repay a portion of a $100,000 Mayor’s Challenge grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The grant was meant to be used by October 2018 for a project that would connect undeveloped or underused properties with interested investors. But by the deadline, more than half of the grant remained unspent. In the months that followed, the mayor’s office charged expenses like Christmas decorations for city hall and meals for community meetings to the Bloomberg Philanthropies grant.

And as city staff continued to examine the Bloomberg spending, some personal charges were discovered that needed to be reimbursed.

“I made a mistake,” Orr said. “And certainly, I don’t expect the city to pick that up for expenses that are personal or for my husband by any sense of the imagination. Absolutely not.”

ACA premiums to increase slightly

CASPER (WNE) — Obamacare open enrollment ended Sunday, and Wyoming premiums as part of the exchange plans are expected to increase slightly compared to last year. 

Final numbers will be available in the coming weeks for how many Wyomingites are enrolled on the exchange plans. Data shows that enrollment is lagging behind last year’s figures; there were 12,158 people who had selected a plan heading into the final week, just over 1000 below a similar time period last year. 

That 12,158 figure will increase significantly when the final figures are tallied, as many people will be re-enrolled in their exchange-selected plans. Last year, for instance, nearly 25,000 people were ultimately enrolled, despite the 13,164 captured in the final week snapshot. 

The plans are expected to increase by an average 1.16 percent, said Wendy Curran, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue Shield Wyoming. The company provides insurance for the exchanges here. Curran said the reinstatement of the health insurance tax — part of the Affordable Care Act and a tax on health coverage — accounts for the increase. 

Curran said this open enrollment period in Wyoming had a sluggish start, though it picked up after Thanksgiving. 

According to exchange data from the first half of 2019, 95 percent of Wyomingites with plans through the marketplace used a tax credit to help offset costs, while more than quarter used cost-sharing reductions to further help pay for their plans.