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 Oct. 21 was:

Colton James Fredrickson, 35, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. If convicted of the most serious crime, Fredrickson faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Fredrickson was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-71.

Appearing on Oct. 20 was:

Michael Paul Nohrenberg, 57, of Ryegate, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Nohrenberg faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. The FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force and the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-61.

Appearing on Oct. 19 was:

Jeffrey Ryan O’Keefe, 27, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, O’Keefe faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. O’Keefe was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Billings Police Department investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-34.

Appearing on Oct. 18 was:

Cameron Ross Forney, 38, of Billings, on charges of false statement during a firearms transaction and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Forney faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Forney was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 20-135.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Oct. 19 was:

Shane William Driscoll, 36, of Whitehall, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Driscoll faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Driscoll was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Montana Probation and Parole Division and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-09.

Nicole Ann Lopez, 37, of Great Falls, on charges of wire fraud. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lopez faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Lopez was released pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-69.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Oct. 21 was:

Dale Robert Johnson, 36, of Butte, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Johnson faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Johnson was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Service, Butte Silver Bow Police Department and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-34.

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.

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