Inset: Ronald Ostrom (via Facebook). Background: The U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming courthouse (via U.S. Courts website).
It sounds like a tale from the Old West, but it happened in modern day Wyoming: A retired U.S. Forest Service officer has been sentenced for rustling government horses and mules — and, allegedly, lots of ammo, too — in an old-fashioned switcheroo.
Court records show Ronald Ostrom, 54, of Powell, Wyoming, was convicted in November by a federal jury after evidence showed he switched out two horses in 2021 that belonged to the U.S. Forest Service — Reo and Roany — with a couple of his own that he had purchased a few years earlier. He was meant to return them, but never did, prosecutors said.
According to a statement from the Justice Department, Ostrom was convicted of a single count of stealing government property, one count of concealing and retaining government property, two counts of making false documents, and two counts of making false statements to cover up his horse thievery. On Monday, Ostrom was sentenced to two years of probation plus six months of home confinement.
Ostrom was indicted the first time in May 2022 and then again in November 2022. A second superseding indictment against Ostrom from July 2023 told the full story: Besides the horses, he was accused of nicking two government mules, a duo named Rosy and Roxy. Prosecutors alleged the former Forest Service employee raided government wares, stealing “over 10,000 rounds of various types of ammunition” as well as a federally-owned Lariat snowmobile trailer worth at least $1,000. He was also accused of making off with Forest Service packing equipment for the horses.
Ostrom must pay a fine of a little under $12,000. He was also hit with assessment fees and other penalties totaling a little more than $3,000. An attorney who represented him at trial did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
