CHEYENNE - Two inmates imprisoned on Natrona County charges died this week - a woman in Casper and a man in Oklahoma.

Cheryl Weis, 47, an inmate at the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk, died Thursday at Wyoming Medical Center, the Wyoming Department of Corrections reported.

Thomas J. Cardenas, 59, of Casper, who had been incarcerated at the North Fork Correction Facility in Sayre, Okla., died Wednesday at the Midwest Regional Medical Center in Midwest, Okla.

Both Weis and Cardenas suffered brief illnesses. According to department policy, autopsies have been ordered in both cases.

The department cannot release any details about the cause of death in either case, said Melinda Brazzalle, public information officer. Inmate medical and mental health information is confidential, and the department does not release autopsy results except in suicide or assault cases.

This week's deaths were not in either category.

Cardenas, who was housed in Oklahoma due to lack of room in Wyoming prisons, was serving a 45- to 50-year sentence for first degree attempted sexual assault. He was originally sentenced on October 24, 1989, in Natrona County by Judge Dan Spangler. He was born Oct. 25, 1947, in Douglas.

Cardenas was convicted of the April 12, 1989, attempted sexual assault at knifepoint of a female neighbor in Casper.

Cardenas twice appealed his sentence on grounds it was illegal, but the Wyoming Supreme Court didn't agree.

Weis was serving 3-5 years for manufacture and intention to sell methamphetamine. She was sentenced Oct. 10, 2006, by Natrona County District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl.

She was born on Oct. 7, 1959, in China Lake, Calif. Although the Niobrara Health and Life Center in Lusk treats inmates, it is an intermediate care facility, not a hospital, Brazzalle said.

"What happens is, if there is an inmate with more of a concern, we have to take them to a different facility," in Casper, Torrington or Douglas, she said.