While some states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana, Wyoming remains one of the strictest in the country when it comes to cannabis possession. Recreational marijuana is illegal, and even small amounts can carry criminal penalties. The stakes are even higher inside a national park.<\/p>\n
A Texas man who was pulled over for speeding has been sentenced to federal prison after rangers found marijuana, fireworks and a loaded handgun in his vehicle.<\/p>\n
Ricardo Ballard, 52, of El Paso, was sentenced to 20 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The sentence was handed down the sentence Feb. 3. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney .<\/p>\n
According to court documents, a National Park Service ranger stopped Ballard on Oct. 27, 2024, after clocking him driving 75 mph in a 45-mph zone inside the park. During the traffic stop, the ranger reported smelling burnt marijuana. Ballard initially denied having drugs or weapons in the vehicle but later admitted to having rolled marijuana joints.<\/p>\n
A subsequent search turned up an unsealed bag of marijuana, three boxes of fireworks and a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol tucked into the back pocket of the passenger seat.<\/p>\n
Ballard was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a prior federal conviction for possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. In that earlier case, he was sentenced to 60 months in prison.<\/p>\n
Because the park is federal land, federal law applies. Marijuana remains fully illegal within park boundaries, and violations can result in federal charges, and in this case they did. Additionally, the presence of fireworks in a national park \u2014 where fire danger is a constant concern \u2014 brings further scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Farley\u2019s Import Car Care Destroyed in Casper Fire <\/p>\n
Jan. 28, 2026. Photos show the full devastation after a fire destroyed Farley\u2019s Import Car Care on E. Yellowstone Highway Friday morning.<\/p>\n
Gallery Credit: Kolby Fedore<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce3\u2728 State Spirit Competition in Casper <\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce3\ud83c\udfc6 Cheerleaders, dancers, and stunt teams from across the state brought their energy, skill, and school pride to compete for top honors in cheer, hip-hop, jazz, gameday, and more. It\u2019s an action-packed celebration of teamwork and talent you won\u2019t want to miss! \ud83d\udca5\ud83d\ude4c\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gallery Credit: Kolby Fedore<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While some states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana, Wyoming remains one of the strictest in the country when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[67179,138,140,139],"class_list":["post-164672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-casper-news","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}