The man accused of bringing a leashed, muzzled and injured wolf into a Sublette County bar has reached a plea agreement less than two weeks before his trial.
Cody Roberts has agreed to withdraw his plea of not guilty and enter a plea of guilty or no contest to a charge of felony cruelty to animals, according to court records released Feb. 25. It’s a reversal from sentiments expressed in a January pre-trial when Roberts’ motion to dismiss was thrown out.
Presumably, this agreement means Roberts’ five-day trial set for March 9 in the Sublette County courthouse will be cancelled.
Both Sublette County Prosecutor Clayton Melinkovich and Roberts’ defense attorney Rob Piper are recommending a reduced sentencing, including a $1,000 fine and 18 months probation. During his probation, Roberts can’t hunt, including shed hunting, fish or consume alcohol or enter bars, lounges or liquor stores. He also has to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and abide by any recommended treatment. Roberts will have to pay court costs and $300 into a state crime victims fund.
The maximum penalty for his felony charge is $5,000 and/or two years in jail.
If Roberts violates the plea agreement, he will not be allowed to withdraw his plea and will be "sentenced without the protections” detailed in the agreement. The plea agreement was certified and released Feb. 25, it was signed by all parties Feb. 17.
How we got here
Jackson Hole Community Radio first broke the story that a man had brought a live wolf into a bar in February 2024.
The outlet reported Roberts captured a gray wolf, “then brought the wolf into his residence and later into a local business in Daniel, Wyoming, near Pinedale, before killing the animal.”
While it’s legal to kill wolves within Wyoming’s predator zone, possessing the wild animal is not.
Roberts was fined $250 by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for possessing live wildlife. According to WyoFile reporting, the department chose not press further charges and maintained that felony animal cruelty doesn’t apply to wolves.
Later, it was alleged Roberts ran the wolf down and over with a snowmobile.
The incident garnered international attention, with many wildlife advocates calling for harsher punishments. Some even caravaned across the country, raising money to try to change Wyoming’s predator laws.
The attention splintered through the small town. Thousands of angry, and sometimes threatening, phone calls filled voicemail boxes of local businesses, the sheriff’s office and people named Cody Roberts who had no relation to the wolf incident.
The backlash was so widespread that hashtags like #wyomingtorturestate and #boycottWyoming started trending.
But it remained unclear under Wyoming’s laws what other penalties could be applied to the case.
That’s due to a complicated history with the state’s ability to manage wolves. Wyoming gained jurisdiction over the grey wolf in 2012 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced it was ending federal protections in several states. Legal challenges resumed the protections in 2014, but that was once again reversed in 2017, putting Wyoming back at the helm.
People who wanted Roberts to be penalised more pointed to Wyoming’s animal abuse statutes. But Sublette County Prosecutor Clayton Melinkovich in an April 2024 press release said there are narrow circumstances in which someone could be charged with abuse of a predatory animal.
“It is lawful for a person in Wyoming to hunt predators from, with, or by use of a helicopter, automotive vehicle, trailer, motor-propelled wheeled vehicle, or vehicle designed for travel over snow,” he wrote.
Lawmakers spent the next summer considering changes to those laws. But they ultimately voted down several attempts to outlaw the sport of striking predators with a vehicle on public lands. An attempt to revive the legislation was made by local Rep. Mike Schmid (R-LaBarge), but it was never introduced this legislative session.
The incident rose to prominence again in August 2025, when a rarely called grand jury was convened to decide whether felony charges should be brought against Roberts.
The grand jury indicted Roberts on a single count of felony cruelty to animals. Roberts’ initial not guilty plea led to a court trial date of March 9. But with this new plea deal, that trial date is presumably canceled.
