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 Johnston in Great Falls on May 21, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• MICHALENE FAST BUFFALO HORSE, a 61-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, FAST BUFFALO HORSE faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference.  15-23

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on May 20, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JEREMY MICHAEL HANNUM, a 43-year-old resident of Loon Lake, Washington, appeared on charges of felon in possession of a firearm/armed career criminal.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, HANNUM faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Montana Highway Patrol.  PACER Case Reference.  15-09

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Johnston in Great Falls on May 19, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JASON ARNOLD ROHRICH, a 39-year-old resident of Great Falls, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, ROHRICH faces 40 years in prison, $5,000,000 in fines and 4 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Russell Country Drug Task Force.  PACER Case reference.  15-30

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on May 12, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• TAJ TESFAYE HAYES, a 38-year-old resident of Oceanside, California, appeared on charges of transportation of a person with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, interstate travel and use of interstate facility in aid of racketeering and false statements.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HAYES faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the Billings Police Department.  PACER Case Reference.  15-50

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on May 11, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JOSEPH LEE BROWN, a 19-year-old resident of Miles City, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, BROWN faces life in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.  PACER Case Reference.  15-39

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on May 11, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• CHANLER CHAZE WHITEGRASS, a 32-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of strangulation, assault resulting in substantial bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, WHITEGRASS faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  PACER Case Reference.  15-31

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.