District court roundup: Man pleads guilty to sexual abuse of a minor

Jun. 19—CHEYENNE — A man accused of having repeated sexual contact with two children entered a plea Monday in Laramie County District Court.

Billy Mike Carrera pleaded guilty, pursuant to a Alford plea, to two counts of felony second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, position of authority, and two counts of felony second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, guardian of victim.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to accept the consequences of a guilty plea without having to admit guilt, while also admitting the prosecution could likely prove the charges against them in a jury trial.

Additional charges — five counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor (position of authority) and one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor (guardian of victim) — would be dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea agreement.

The state agreed to cap its sentencing argument at 10 to 12 years in prison, though Carrera and his attorney will be free to argue for a sentence of three to five years.

Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell set Carrera's sentencing for Sept. 7. Carrera is currently out of jail on bond.

A mistrial was declared in the case on March 10 by Campbell, after the court was made aware of a possible exposure to COVID-19, according to court documents.

The probable cause affidavit describing the incident has been put in a confidential file.

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Heard Thursday in district court:

Norman Joseph Trautman pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and battery against a pregnant woman, a felony. A second count of the same charge would be dismissed at sentencing, per a plea agreement.

The state, Trautman and his attorney agreed to recommend a sentence of three years of supervised probation, with a suspended sentence of two to four years in prison.

Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher set Trautman's sentencing for Sept. 23.

At 9:57 a.m.April 14, a Laramie County Sheriff's deputy responded to a report of domestic abuse. A woman reported Trautman had struck her on the side of her face, according to court documents. The woman was pregnant with Trautman's child.

The woman also told a deputy that, four days before, she'd been awoken by Trautman holding her down and then striking her twice in the face. Trautman's mother showed a deputy a picture of the bruises she received that night, according to court documents.

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Amaduo Tidiane Balde was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, with a suspended sentence of three to five years in prison, by Judge Froelicher.

Balde previously pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to manufacture, deliver or possess marijuana and misdemeanor interference with a peace officer (resisting). Additional charges — felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and felony possession of marijuana — were dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea agreement.

At 8:51 a.m.Aug. 16, a Wyoming State Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Balde was a passenger, along with a small child and other individuals. After establishing reasonable suspicion, the trooper deployed a drug detection dog, which alerted on the vehicle, according to court documents.

The trooper then searched the vehicle, finding a total of 55.2 pounds of marijuana in vacuum sealed packages. While the trooper was handcuffing the driver, Balde and another passenger got back into the vehicle and drove away, according to court documents.

The car was later located with the help of the Cheyenne Police Department, and Balde and the other man were found shortly after.

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Also heard Monday in district court:

Justin Lucero was sentenced by Judge Campbell to three years of supervised probation, with a suspended sentence of three to four years in prison, for an aggravated assault and battery charge. He was given two sentences of six months probation for reckless endangering charge, running concurrently with the aggravated assault sentence, with a suspended 180-day prison sentence for each.

Lucero pleaded guilty in March to felony aggravated assault and battery (threatening with a deadly weapon), misdemeanor reckless endangering with a firearm and misdemeanor reckless endangering (conduct), as part of a plea agreement.

On May 30, a Cheyenne Police officer responded to a report of a disturbance involving a gun. Upon arrival, a man told the officer that Lucero had accused him of kissing his girlfriend, and that Lucero had pointed a handgun at him while the man held his infant daughter, according to court documents. Lucero then hit the man in the head with the gun.

The man said he was able to get away from Lucero and went into the house to get his wife so they could leave. Lucero followed the man as he was trying to leave, dropping the gun before he and the man began physically fighting, according to court documents.

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Brooklie Ann Duvall-Ryerse was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation, with a suspended sentence of 180 days of incarceration. A no-contact order was also lifted.

Just before her sentencing, Duvall-Ryerse pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless endangering. She had also been charged with intentional abuse, neglect or abandonment of a vulnerable adult, a felony, but this count was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

On Dec. 4, a Cheyenne police officer responded to a report of abuse of a vulnerable adult. Duvall-Ryerse said she had gotten in an argument with her aunt and put a pillow over her aunt's face for about 10 seconds, and that she cut the woman's oxygen tube, according to court documents. Duvall-Ryerse was the caretaker for her aunt, who has dementia.

Duvall-Ryerse's son said he had to pull his mother off of her aunt and saw Duvall-Ryerse punch the woman in the arm more than once. Duvall-Ryerse's aunt corroborated these events, adding that Duvall-Ryerse said she wanted her to die, according to court documents.

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Brittany C. Sullivan was sentenced June 3 to two years of supervised probation, with a suspended sentence of 12 to 18 months of incarceration. She was also ordered to pay $8,232.39 in restitution.

Sullivan pleaded guilty in March to one count of felony forgery (uttering) as part of a plea agreement. She was originally charged with 13 counts of felony forgery (uttering) and one count of felony conspiracy to commit forgery, along with two additional felony forgery charges in a separate case. These remaining charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

The probable cause affidavit describing the incident was put in a confidential file.

Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.

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