Acting United States Attorney Nicholas Vassallo announced today that DANIEL PATRICK GUTIERREZ, age 36, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was sentenced for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and felon in possession of a firearm on July 15, 2022 before Federal District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson. Gutierrez was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment, 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $400 in special assessments.
In December 2020, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began an investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in Natrona County. The investigation revealed that Gutierrez was purchasing pound-quantities of methamphetamine in the Denver area. He would often trade firearms for methamphetamine. Gutierrez, with the help of his co-conspirators, was responsible for the distribution of over seven pounds of methamphetamine in the Cheyenne and Casper areas. On August 13, 2021, Gutierrez was arrested and law enforcement found firearms and ammunition in a search of his Cheyenne home.
“Thanks to the cooperation of multiple local law enforcement agencies in this case, the government removed dangerous firearms and methamphetamine from the streets of Casper and Cheyenne,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Vassallo. “Gutierrez was previously convicted of two prior serious felony drug convictions – once in 2003 and again in 2009. Despite these interactions with the criminal justice system, Gutierrez continued to engage in criminal conduct that endangered communities across Wyoming. The long prison sentence Gutierrez has been ordered to serve ensures that a dangerous, repeat offender is removed from our community.”
This crime was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Casper Police Department, Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cheyenne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christyne M. Martens and Margaret M. Vierbuchen.
Case Number: 0:22-cr-00007-ABJ