Cody Roberts, a Wyoming man accused of hitting a wolf with a snowmobile, taping the animal’s mouth shut, showing it in a rural bar and then killing it, has agreed to a plea deal with Sublette County prosecutors that would keep him from going to trial. Prosecutors reached the agreement last week and filed it in court Wednesday, according to court documents.
Under the proposed deal, Roberts would plead guilty or no contest to one count of felony animal cruelty and avoid both trial and the possibility of a prison sentence. The agreement calls for Roberts to pay a $1,000 fine and serve 18 months of probation, the documents said.
The alleged animal abuse happened in February 2024 in Daniel, a town of about 150 people roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Jackson. The case drew national attention after photos circulated online showing the wolf with its mouth bound with tape and video clips showing the animal lying on a floor, alive but barely moving.
Wyoming law gives broad leeway to kill wolves and other predators across most of the state, according to reporting that followed the case. Roberts had previously paid a $250 fine for illegal possession of wildlife before he was later indicted by a rare Wyoming grand jury on a single count of animal cruelty last summer.
The indictment meant Roberts faced up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted, with a trial previously scheduled for March 9. The plea agreement Roberts signed Feb. 17 would also include probation restrictions, including a prohibition on drinking alcohol, going into a bar or liquor store, and hunting or fishing while on probation.
As of Thursday, Sublette County District Court officials said Roberts’ trial remained scheduled and no plea hearing date had been set. Roberts had no listed phone number and could not be reached for comment, and both Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich and Roberts’ attorney, Robert Piper of Cheyenne, declined to comment.
Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States, welcomed the news of the proposed plea agreement but said the case also exposed what it called gaps in Wyoming law that leave wolves and other wildlife vulnerable to cruelty. “At the same time, the case reveals the serious gaps that leave wolves and other wildlife vulnerable to cruelty,” Nicholas Arrivo, an attorney for the group, said in an emailed statement. “Like domestic animals, wild animals are at the mercy of humans and deserve respect and legal protection.”
The case also prompted calls for a Wyoming tourism boycott after what many critics described as a relatively light punishment following Roberts’ earlier fine. Reporting in the matter noted that Yellowstone National Park had a busier year in 2024 than the year before.
Wolves are protected as endangered or threatened under federal rules in much of the country, but not in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where they can be hunted and trapped. Exceptions include Yellowstone and neighboring Grand Teton National Park, where hunting is prohibited and wolves draw tourists—while much of Wyoming is classified as predator territory, including Sublette County where the wolf in this case was killed.
Groups including Humane World for Animals argued that even in those predator zones, Wyoming’s animal cruelty law could still apply. That argument has been central to how wildlife-welfare advocates have viewed the case and the scrutiny it has brought to state rules on killing predators.