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 Cavan in Billings on June 27, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• ROBERT JOHN BIGBACK, a 22-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of felon in possession of a firearm.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, BIGBACK faces 10 years in prison, and $250,000 in fines.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  PACER Case Reference.  17-59

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Cavan in Billings on June 22, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• GEORGE SCOTT PRINDLE, a 60-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of distribution of methamphetamine.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, PRINDLE faces 20 years in prison, and $1,000,000 in fines.  The case was investigated by the FBI Task Force.  PACER Case Reference.  17-64

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Cavan in Billings on June 20, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• MATTHEW FRANCESCO MANDALA, a 29-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.    If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MANDALA faces life in prison, and $5,000,000 in fines.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  PACER Case Reference.  17-62

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.