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Press Release

Information: Federal Court Arraignments

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana

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 Judge Ostby in Billings on April 1, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • FRANKLYN DON HAMMONTREE, a 42-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, HAMMONTREE faces life in prison, $5,000,000 in fines and 4 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.   PACER Case Reference:  15-27

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Johnston in Great Falls on March 31, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • COBRA JADE SPOTTED WOLF, a 35-year-old resident of Poplar, appeared on charges of burglary and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  If convicted the most serious charge contained in the indictment, SPOTTED WOLF faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice.  PACER Case Reference:  15-19

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on March 27, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • JUEL REBECA GRAHAM, a 29-year-old resident of Hardin, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, GRAHAM faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  PACER Case Reference:  15-26

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on March 25, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • ARMANDO GOMEZ-HERNANDEZ, a 51-year-old resident of Mexico, appeared on charges of illegal reentry.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, GOMEZ-HERNANDEZ faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the United States Border Patrol.  PACER Case Reference:  15-05
  • RAFAEL RAMOS-ROMERO, a 28-year-old resident of Mexico, appeared on charges of illegal reentry.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, RAMOS-ROMERO faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  PACER Case Reference:  15-19

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on March 20, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • MELVIN LEE WOODENTHIGH, JR., a 33-year-old resident of Lame Deer, appeared on charges of sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, abusive sexual contact and abusive sexual contact of a minor.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, WOODENTHIGH faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  PACER Case Reference:  15-20

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on March 19, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • RENEE ANN ZINNECKER, a 50-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of wire fraud.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, ZINNECKER faces 20 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:  15-09

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on March 17, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • MICHAEL SERREL JOHNSON, a 45-year-old resident of Minot, North Dakota, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, JOHNSON faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Montana Division of Criminal Investigations.  PACER Case Reference:  15-13

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on March 17, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

  • BLAINE GARRETT REPOSA, a 30-year-old resident of Corvallis, Oregon, appeared on charges of distribution of child pornography.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, REPOSA faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Bozeman Police Department and Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.  PACER Case Reference:  14-29
  • ANTHONY DANE ROBERTY, a 54-year-old resident of Bozeman, appeared on charges of receipt of child pornography.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, ROBERTY faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Bozeman Police Department and Montana Division of Criminal Investigations.  PACER Case Reference:  15-16

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.

Updated April 3, 2015