Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on March 3, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, the following individuals were arraigned:

ROBERT DARRYL WAR CLUB, age 48, appeared on a charge of first degree murder. He is currently detained. If convicted of this charge, WAR CLUB faces possible penalties of life in prison, a $250,000 fine and 5 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was a cooperative effort between Federal Bureau of Investigation in Billings, Havre and Glasgow.

HAROLD DEAN DUPREE, a 54-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared on a charge of second degree murder. He is currently detained. If convicted of this charge, DUPREE faces possible penalties of life years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 5 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl E. Rostad is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Glasgow.

DOUGLAS JOSEPH DAY RIDER, a 28-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on a charge of failure to register as a sex offender. He is currently detained. If convicted of this charge, DAY RIDER faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Carroll is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

MERLE ANTHONY TROMBLEY, a 36-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine. He is currently detained. If convicted of these charges, TROMBLEY faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 1 year in prison and could be sentenced to 40 years, a $1,000,000 fine and 6 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Carroll is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Blackfeet Safe Trails Task Force

VANESSA TOPAZ BAHR, age 30, and JUSTIN GENE MEINEKE, age 30, residents of Browning, appeared on charges of theft of federal government monies and conspiracy to submit false claims. They are currently detained. If convicted of these charges, they each face possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl E. Rostad is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Inspector General's Office for the General Services Administration.

The defendants pled not guilty to the charges.

The charge, an indictment, information or complaint, is merely an accusation and all persons named as defendants are 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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