ROCK SPRINGS — Former Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to official misconduct and conflict of interest and was ordered to pay $5,000.

Kaumo appeared in the Third Circuit Court of Judge Michael Greer earlier this week where he changed his plea to guilty to one misdemeanor charge of official misconduct and one misdemeanor charge of conflict of interest. After a long argued sentencing hearing, Judge Greer ordered Kaumo to pay $5,000 for both charges. However, because the charges were closely related and he merged them and ordered Kaumo to pay $5,000 plus court fees of $220.

In August of 2022, Kaumo was charged with six counts of official misconduct and one count of conflict of interest. The investigation began in 2020 and focused on whether Kaumo used his official position as mayor to aid in securing business for JFC Engineers and Surveyors on the Bitter Creek Reconstruction Project. Kaumo currently serves as president and is the majority shareholder of JFC.

“The evidence was pretty clear on misconduct and conflict of interest,” Johnson County Prosecuting Attorney Tucker Ruby said.

Ruby argued for $5,000 per count, while defense attorney Joseph Hampton argued for $500 on each count.

Both Ruby and Hampton agreed the sentence was fair given the circumstances of the case.

Hampton said Judge Greer took everything into account before making a ruling pointing out that there was no evidence Kaumo had done anything else like this in his 12 years of service as mayor. He also looked at all of the positive contributions including the growth and development of Rock Springs Kaumo made to the community while in office.

“We’re satisfied with the ruling. We thought that the judge was attentive and gave credence to both sides’ arguments, recognized what we were saying and we thought it was a fair ruling,” Hampton said.

Ruby said that even though the charges were misdemeanors it’s important to bring public corruption cases to light. People should be able to trust the system that holds elected officials accountable, he continued.

Ruby wanted to thank the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for all their hard work on investigating the case.