Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on February 19, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, the following individual was arraigned:

NATHAN MURPHY, a 51-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on a charge of theft of government property. He is currently released on special conditions. If convicted of this charge, MURPHY faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica T. Fehr is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Land Management.

The defendant pled not guilty to the charge.

The charge, an indictment, information or complaint, is merely an accusation and any person named as a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. A pre-trial conference and a trial date will be set and the United States will be required to prove the allegations set forth in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

 

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