Information: Federal Court Arraignments

The United States Attorney's Office today 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 Strong in Great Falls on April 4, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• MELINDA MONDRAGON-PATALEON, a 41-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and use of a communication facility to commit a drug felony. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, MONDRAGON-PATALEON faces 20 years imprisonment, $1,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service. PACER Case Reference: 13-71

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on April 8, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• KEVIN R. CRISWELL, a 31-year-old resident of Libby, appeared on charges of conspiracy to acquire a controlled substance by forgery, fraud, deception or subterfuge. If convicted of the most serious charge in the indictment, CRISWELL faces 4 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference: 14-36

• BRANDON JAYJOSEPH WHITE, a 24-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, WHITE faces life imprisonment, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The prosecution is part of Project Safe Bakken, a cooperative effort between federal and state prosecutors and federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in Montana and North Dakota. The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 13-91

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Strong in Great Falls on April 8, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DALE YURKOVIC, a 61-year-old resident from Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, YURKOVIC faces 20 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. PACER Case Reference: 14-13

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Strong in Great Falls on April 9, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• SCOBEY BAKER, a 37 year-old-resident of Wolf Point, appeared on charges of aggravated sexual abuse and kidnaping. If convicted of the most serious charge in the indictment, BAKER faces life imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 5 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: 14-27

• DAVID V. CHASER, a 39-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charge in the indictment, CHASER faces 20 years imprisonment, $1,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 14-28

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Lynch in Missoula on April 10, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DAVID ERIC JACOBS, a 34-year-old resident of Missoula, appeared on charges of felon in possession and counterfeiting/forgery. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, JACOBS faces 20 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. PACER Case Reference: 13-17

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on April 11, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• EUGENIA ANN ROWLAND, a 41-year-old resident of Rapid City, South Dakota, appeared on charges of second degree murder. If convicted of the charge in the indictment, ROWLAND faces life imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. PACER Case Reference: 14-27

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Strong in Great Falls on April 14, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• MARK JOHN WEATHERWAX, a 44-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of aggravated sexual abuse, attempted aggravated sexual abuse and assault. If convicted of the most serious charges in the indictment, WEATHERWAX faces life imprisonment $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 14-03

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on April 16, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DAVID ALLEN DARSOW, a 47-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun. If convicted of the charge in the indictment, DARSOW faces 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. PACER Case Reference: 14-30

The indictment is merely a formal charging document. It is not proof of guilt and all persons indicted are presumed to be innocent of any crime until proof of guilt is established by trial or guilty plea.

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.

Keri