(Fremont County, WY) – Oscar Espinoza Duarte was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment (15 years) by the Bureau of Prisons at his sentencing hearing today, August 7, before Honorable Judge Scott W Skavdahl in Casper.
He was sentenced on two counts of methamphetamine distribution (aiding and abetting), alien possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Duarte received 120-month sentences for both the methamphetamine distribution (aiding and abetting) and the alien in possession of a firearm charges, which will be served concurrently. In addition to the other charges, he was sentenced to 60 months in prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The other two charges he faced, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine (aiding and abetting) and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, were dropped in accordance with the terms of a non-public plea agreement filed in May, when today’s sentencing was scheduled.
In addition to his prison sentence, Duarte was ordered to serve a total of 5 years of supervised release and pay $400 in special assessment fees. Court filings also stated that “the Defendant shall not illegally reenter the United States.”
Duarte, a Mexican national and “an illegal immigrant with probable ties to a known transnational drug trafficking organization” that was “recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization,” was charged and eventually sentenced after a Rocky Mountain Safe Trails Task Force investigation determined he had been distributing methamphetamine in the Wind River Reservation and surrounding communities from his Kinnear home.
The Task Force is “a joint mission between Wyoming local, state, and federal agencies to investigate, interdict, and disrupt Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) and other criminal enterprises on and around the Wind River Reservation,” according to the original complaint document on file.
In October 2024, DCI Agents met with a “known and reliable Confidential Informant (CI),” who reported that they had “met a local methamphetamine source of supply,” who turned out to be receiving “large quantities of methamphetamine” from Duarte.
During the subsequent investigation, agents discovered that Duarte’s residence was “off of Highway 26, near Kinnear.”
On February 6, 2025, agents were monitoring Duarte’s home when they noticed him returning home with another person. Agents soon observed another subject, later identified as Collie Warren, arrive at Duarte’s residence, according to the complaint document.
Warren “did not appear to have anything in his hands” when he entered Duarte’s home, but he left around 1:20 PM “with a red-colored item/package in his hands.”
The complaint stated that agents followed Warren as he drove south into Ethete, where he parked and entered a convenience store.
Agents then observed Warren leave the store and enter the passenger seat of a different vehicle, which quickly drove away.
Law enforcement stopped the vehicle after determining that its plates had expired, and then “identified Warren as the person who had left (Duarte’s) residence with the red-colored item/package.”
Agents later discovered “a red Budweiser beer box,” which was “consistent with the red-colored item/package Warren possessed when he left (Duarte’s).” The item inside was “a clear baggie containing a crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine.”
Agents then field-tested a sample of the suspected methamphetamine, which resulted in a “presumptive positive reaction for the presence of methamphetamine.”
A warrant was then issued for Duarte’s arrest, which led to today’s sentence.
Collie Warren was also charged with his role in the investigation and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 22.
The other person charged in connection with this investigation, German Ortiz-Esparza, was sentenced yesterday, August 6.
Click here to view all of County 10’s coverage of Duarte’s case.
