Riverton joins opioid lawsuit
RIVERTON (WNE) — The City of Riverton has joined a nationwide, multi-district lawsuit against 24 pharmaceutical companies, including Walgreen Co. and Walmart Inc., to seek damages caused by what the suit describes as “the opioid epidemic.”
In a 200-page complaint the city filed through its attorney, Jason Ochs of Jackson, the opioid epidemic is deemed “the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history” which encourages “the misuse, abuse, and overprescription of opioids.”
Riverton-born personal injury attorney Jeremy Hugus, who works in Casper, has been close to the case from the start. He was the first to approach the Riverton City Council about the subject. In an interview with The Ranger, Hugus said the infrastructural toll of the opioid epidemic is about $900 per citizen on average, in any given community.
“Fremont County is the third-hardest-hit county in Wyoming,” said Hugus, “so the average there is probably higher than $900. The costs are substantial.”
There are thousands of U.S. cities and counties joining the lawsuit, which Hugus said should serve as a wake-up call to the manufacturers, the doctors, and the pharmacies embracing the prescription opioid movement as a marketplace.
In Wyoming alone, said Hugus, other governments joining in the lawsuit include Casper, Cheyenne, Green River, Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, Carbon County, and the Northern Arapahoe Tribe.
Although Riverton agreed to join the suit after some persuasion, the Fremont County Commission is still against it.
When Jason Ochs approached commissioners last year on behalf of his law firm and the multi-district agenda, Fremont County Commissioner Travis Becker said the commissioners “kicked around” the idea and eventually voted down, unanimously, any involvement with the case.
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Cheyenne woman dies in accident
CHEYENNE (WNE) — A Cheyenne woman died Thursday from injuries suffered in a crash near the intersection of East Ninth Street and Interstate 180 in south Cheyenne.
Maria Aguilar-Lopez, 49, was traveling southbound on the Central Avenue viaduct at 7:30 a.m. when her red Dodge Durango crossed a raised median into the northbound lane of I-180 and struck a tree on the east side of the roadway.
She suffered serious injuries and could not be revived, according to Cheyenne Police.
Aguilar-Lopez was the only occupant of her vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Local investigators have spoken with multiple witnesses, but anyone with information who has not spoken with law enforcement is asked to call Officer Ehlman at 307-633-6636.
An accident reconstruction of the crash is being performed. The investigation accounts for speeds and driver impairment, as well as any other factors that could have caused the crash.
The Cheyenne Police Department originally reported Maria Aguilar died in the crash Thursday morning, but her full name is Maria Aguilar-Lopez, according to spokesman Officer Kevin Malatesta.
The case remains under investigation by the Cheyenne Police Department.
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Former council candidate sentenced in child porn case
EVANSTON (WNE) — A former Evanston City Council candidate who was arrested last fall on charges of manufacturing and possessing child pornography has been sentenced to a minimum of 15 years behind bars.
Maurizio Mariotti appeared in Third District Court on the morning of Tuesday, June 4, for sentencing after changing his plea to guilty on eight of the 15 counts against him.
Mariotti was arrested on Oct. 30, 2018 — just days before the general election in which he was listed as a candidate for city council — and charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of children related to manufacturing child pornography and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of children for possessing child pornography.
The Evanston Police Department began investigating Mariotti following a complaint received in spring 2018 from a now-adult female victim, who had been involved in a lengthy relationship with Mariotti when she was 16 and 17 years of age and he was in his early 30s.
After the execution of a search warrant, EPD detectives discovered multiple videos of the victim and Mariotti engaging in explicit sexual conduct, created in spring and summer of 2016 when she was 17 years old. Those videos resulted in the charges of manufacturing child pornography.
However, detectives also discovered multiple pornographic images of children on multiple electronic devices seized during the investigation, including images of both boys and girls in explicitly sexual poses. The children in the photos ranged in age from toddler to pre-pubescent, resulting in the 10 additional charges of possessing child pornography.
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Woman pleads guilty in Tapentadol case
TORRINGTON (WNE) — Melody Boalch, of Torrington, will be sentenced in Judge Patrick Korell’s Eighth Judicial District Court after she pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of a controlled substance.
Boalch could face up to five years in prison, a fine of $10,000 or both.
The prosecution, led by Goshen County and Prosecuting Attorney Eric Boyer, dismissed a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. That charge carried 20-year maximum sentence.
Boalch was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018 at her home in Torrington in an operation that involved the Torrington Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the United States Post Office after she took control of a package that allegedly contained a large amount of Tapentadol.
During the arrest, law enforcement officials allegedly found a massive amount of Tapentadol in Boalch’s home along with paraphernalia typically used by drug dealers to distribute product.
Boalch told officers the pills were to help manage her pain from Lupus, and she was afraid of running out of medication, according to Affidavit of Probable Cause filed in the case.
