Informational: Federal Court arraignments

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. 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 U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on June 11 was:

Ashley Jocelyn Cortez, 24, 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, Cortez 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 to life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the firearm charge. Cortez was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Havre Police Department, Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Rocky Boy’s Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 24-46.

Brooke Olson Newton, 29, of Bainville, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and distribution of fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Newton faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Newton was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, Valley County Sheriff’s Office, Phillips County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Peck Police Department and Williston, N.D., Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 24-35.

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on June 13 was:

Kyle Thomas Ball, 22, of Billings, on charges of false statement during a firearms transaction and possession of firearm with obliterated serial number. If convicted of the most serious crime, Ball faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Ball was released pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Billings Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 24-64.

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.

XXX