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 Judge Strong in Great Falls on September 29, 2014, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

WILLIAM JAMES BALL, a 46-year-old resident of Harlem, appeared on charges of aggravated sexual abuse and strangulation. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, BALL 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: 14-81

ROBERT ALLEN SMITH, a 59-yeard-old resident of Great Falls, appeared on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, SMITH faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Great Falls Police Department. PACER Case Reference: 14-70

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on September 25, 2014, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

DUSTIN JAMES MASSEY, a 29-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, MASSEY faces 20 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 14-96

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..