A former state trooper admitted in court Friday to possessing anabolic steroids, marking the second time in as many weeks that an ex-patrolman confessed to that charge.

Devan Henderson, 34, pleaded guilty in Natrona County District Court to a single count of possession of a controlled substance.

Henderson faced the possibility of up to five years behind bars before reaching a deal with prosecutors. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he could receive at most five years of probation for possessing more than .3 of a gram of the steroid cypiogen in 2004.

Henderson, who was represented by attorney Craig Silva, entered his plea Friday morning before Judge David Park. Henderson remains free on $2,500 bond.

Adam Longo, another former state trooper who like Henderson was based in Casper, pleaded guilty to the same charge last week. The 28-year-old also faces up to five years of probation.

Agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began investigating Henderson while engaged in a probe of Franklin Ryle Jr., a former state trooper accused of kidnapping a Wal-Mart truck driver.

In January, investigators discovered text messages Ryle sent Henderson asking him to get rid of vials and a syringe from his work desk, according to a DCI agent's affidavit. In the text messages, Ryle referred to the items as "juice," a slang term for steroids.

Two days after authorities searched Ryle's desk and found two vials containing almost 13 grams of cypiogen, Henderson told agents he and Ryle bought the steroids while vacationing in Mexico in April 2004. According to an affidavit, the men hauled the steroids back to Wyoming in an empty vanilla bottle in Ryle's suitcase.

While that investigation was continuing, Longo told Highway Patrol officials he had used steroids during an 18-month period ending in October 2008, according to an affidavit. He admitted to buying three vials of steroids at a Casper gym, giving one to Ryle and keeping the rest for himself.

Longo and Henderson cut ties with the Highway Patrol in August.

Ryle has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge in connection with his unlawful arrest of a Wal-Mart truck driver in January near Douglas. The former trooper planned to kill the trucker and stage a crash with his patrol vehicle in order to collect a settlement from the business. He ultimately released the trucker unharmed.

Ryle, who remains in jail, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on Nov. 19.

Reach crime reporter William Browning at (307) 266-0534 or at william.browning@trib.com.