Informational: Federal Court arraignments

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared recently before U.S. District or Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt:

Appearing in Great Falls before Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris and pleading not guilty on June 6 was:

Melody Rose Bernard, 49, of Box Elder, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious crime, Bernard faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release on the drug charges and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the firearms charge. Bernard was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Rocky Boy’s Police Department, Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Great Falls Police Department, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Havre Police Department conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-46.

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on June 5 was:

Lori Pauline Whiteshield, 44, of Lame Deer, on charges of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to a person under 16. If convicted of the most serious crime, Whiteshield faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Whiteshield was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-62.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on May 30 was:

Todd Schannen Pearson, 54, of Indianapolis, Indiana, on charges of transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious crime, Pearson faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to a lifetime of supervised release. Pearson was detained pending further proceedings. The Bozeman Police Department and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-09.

The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

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