Informational: Federal Court arraignments

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned this week before U.S. Magistrate judges and indictments handed down by the Grand Jury were unsealed. Indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan on Dec. 10 and pleading not guilty were:

Danika Nurea Sanchez, 20, of Lame Deer, on charges of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Sanchez faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and five years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Pacer case reference. 18-143.

Romer Jesse Jaure, 27, of Busby, on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact. If convicted of the most serious crime, Jaure faces a maximum 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 18-148.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston on Dec. 11 and pleading not guilty were:

Holden Stillsmoking, 26, of Browning, on charges of strangulation and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted of the most serious crime, Stillsmoking faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 18-102.

Martin St. Goddard, 32, of Browning, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted of the most serious crime, Goddard faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 18-100.

Rand Michael Emineth, 26, of Great Falls, on charges of conspiracy to distribute explosives without a license, possession of stolen explosives and felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Emineth faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Great Falls Police Department. Pacer case reference. 18-90.

Mahliani Kataya Red Eagle, 20, of the Fort Peck Reservation, on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious crime Red Eagle faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and five years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI and Fort Peck Criminal Investigation. Pacer case reference. 18-98.

Justin Leonard Sheehan, 43, of Great Falls, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious drug crime, Sheehan faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and five years of supervised release. He also faces a minimum mandatory five years to life in prison consecutive to any other sentence on the firearms count. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Pacer case reference. 18-101.

Gary Girard Sheehan, 67, of Great Falls, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious drug crime, Sheehan faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and five years of supervised release. He also faces a minimum mandatory five years to life consecutive to any other sentence on the firearms count. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Pacer case reference. 18-101.

Lothar Konrad Krauth, 80, Great Falls, on charges of receipt of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious crime, Krauth faces a minimum mandatory five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. Pacer case reference. 18-99.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch on Dec. 12 and pleading not guilty was:

Candace Hessel Cummings, 65, of Libby, on charges of tax evasion. If convicted of the most serious crime, Cummings faces a maximum five years in prison, a $100,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the IRS. Pacer case reference. 18-56.

Appearing on Dec. 13 and pleading not guilty was:

Tina Marie Johnstone, 53, of Helena, on charges of theft of public money and concealment of facts impacting Supplemental Security Income. If convicted of the most serious crime, Johnstone faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration. Pacer case reference. 18-19.

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.

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.

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