Information: Federal Court Arraignments

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that those persons listed below were arraigned before the U.S. Magistrate and the indictments handed down by the Grand Jury unsealed.

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on June 3, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• ALLEN JOSEPH HARN, a 23-year-old resident of Miles City, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HARN faces life in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  PACER Case Reference.  15-56

• COLTON WAYNE NEAL, a 24-year-old resident of Lodge Grass, appeared on charges of possession of a firearm not registered in national firearms registration and transfer record.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, NEAL faces 10 years in prison, $10,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  PACER Case Reference.  15-52

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on June 2, 2015 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JAMES LEROY EMERSON, a 66-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of theft of federally provided welfare benefits by fraud, federal welfare assistance fraud, and theft from an Indian tribal organization.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, EMERSON faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference.  15-22

• CLORECE FAYE KICKING WOMAN, a 55-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of theft of federally provided welfare benefits by fraud, and federal welfare assistance fraud.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, KICKING WOMAN faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference.  15-22

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on June 1, 2015 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JOSHUA LEE HELM, a 34-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and distribution of methamphetamine.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HELM faces life in prison, $5,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.  PACER Case Reference.  15-57

If any of the above cases are of interest to your media organization and the community it serves, we encourage you to monitor the progress of the case regularly through the U.S. District Court calendar and the PACER system so that you stay current and not miss any important developments in the case.

To establish a PACER account, which will allow you to review documents filed in the case, please go to, http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the district court’s calendar, please go to https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.