Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on February 13, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, the following individual was arraigned:

CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL PATTISON, a resident of Bozeman, appeared on charges of possession of a fraudulent immigration document, possession of five or more false identification documents, and false representation of social security number. He is currently detained. If convicted of these charges, PATTISON faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Lahr is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The defendant pled not guilty to the charges.

The charge, an indictment, information or complaint, is merely an accusation and any person named as a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. A pre-trial conference and a trial date will be set and the United States will be required to prove the allegations set forth in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

 

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