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:

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Dec. 23 was:

Shean Moore, 38, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Moore faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Moore was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. Pacer case reference. 19-158.

Charles Anthony Sloan, 31, of Hardin, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Sloan faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least three years of supervised release. Sloan was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Pacer case reference. 19-157.

Abran Rodriguez Rascon, 33, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Rascon faces a maximum 10 years in prison a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Rascon was detained pending further proceedings. Pacer case reference. 19-149.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Dec. 23 was:

Nicole Lee Chappel, 29, of Kalispell, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Chappel faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Chappel was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kalispell Police Department. Pacer case reference. 19-57.

Kevin Kenneth Gaethle, 38, of Lakeside, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Gaethle faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Gaethle was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kalispell Police Department. Pacer case reference. 19-58.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Dec. 23 was:

John Thomas Azure, 49, of Browning, on charges of aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse. If convicted of the most serious crime, Azure faces a maximum of life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. Azure was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services. Pacer case reference. 19-87.

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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