Sweetwater County Judge Sentences Cody Roberts to 18 Months Probation for Wolf Torture

Cody Roberts got 18 months of probation for torturing and killing a wolf at a bar. No prison time. Just a suspended sentence and a $1,450 fine.

That’s the deal Sweetwater County District Judge Richard Lavery handed down Wednesday in Pinedale. Roberts, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of felony animal cruelty. The charge sticks. The punishment? Keep your nose clean for a year and a half, and you stay out of jail.

It’s not a slap on the wrist. It’s not a life sentence. It’s a specific set of rules designed to keep the man who ran over a wolf with a snowmobile from doing it again.

The incident happened Feb. 29, 2024. Roberts chased the animal on a snowmobile in Sublette County. He ran it over. He maimed it. Then he taped its jaws shut. He hauled the wounded predator to the Green River Bar in Daniel. He displayed it. He killed it out back.

When photos hit social media, the world watched. Global outrage followed. Locals watched too. They saw their neighbor turn a wolf into a spectacle.

Lavery noted that under Wyoming law, wolves are predators. You can kill them anytime, any way you want. But you can’t do it in a cruel manner.

“It can’t be done in a cruel manner,” Lavery told Roberts. “It’s not that you captured a wolf, it’s what happened after. The keeping of the animal was cruel. That was the crime.”

The judge was blunt. “I have to be honest with you, Mr. Roberts... the charge in this case is disturbing.”

Roberts, a father of four, stared him down. Steady eye contact. He didn’t ramble. He answered the routine questions. He let the judge do the talking.

The plea agreement was reached earlier this year with Prosecuting Attorney Clayton Melinkovich. A pre-sentencing report didn’t uncover any hidden surprises. No new facts to shake up the deal. Just the alcohol.

Lavery identified alcohol as Roberts’ “substance of choice.” It played a role in the incident. It plays a role in his life. So, the conditions of probation target it directly.

No alcohol.

No bars.

No liquor stores.

Roberts can’t enter or even be present in a lounge. He’s banned from hunting or fishing for the full 18 months. That includes hunting for shed antlers. You want to walk the range looking for deer horns? You can’t.

He must also follow recommendations from an addiction severity index evaluation. The judge called it a level-one alcohol program. Standard stuff. But mandatory.

The financial hit is small compared to the freedom he keeps. Court costs. A $300 victim surcharge. The $1,450 fine.

Lavery told him to “lead a worthy and reputable life.” He added a warning about who Roberts hangs out with. Don’t associate with the wrong crowd.

The hearing drew about 25 people in the courtroom. Another dozen watched via livestream in a separate chamber. The community was there to see if the man who turned a wolf into a bar exhibit would pay the price.

He did. Just not with his time. He pays with his freedom’s edges. No drinking. No hunting. No bars.

The wolf is dead. The photos are online. Roberts is on probation. The question isn’t whether he’ll break the rules. It’s whether the rules matter enough to change him.

Lavery didn’t mince words about the cruelty. He didn’t need to. The taped jaws and the bar display said enough. Now Roberts has to prove he can handle the quiet.